Guardians of Earth
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission. Hit the Chitauri ship and destroy the space gate. But with Quill, NOTHING is ever simple. Now stranded on Earth, how will the Guardians of the Galaxy handle things? I am Groot. No one asked you!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

 **Here is something new for everyone, a story based on live-action properties rather than anime. I assure, I have not gone insane. Completely. For the most part, this story is mainly a crossover of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Transformers films, and Godzilla. There are a few other additions, like the X-Men, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and Blade films, but I would ponder that those fall under the banner of Marvel movies. I have got Bakuto Masaki giving me a hand in the story as per usual as my secondary author. If it is not obvious from the outset, the main character of this story is Peter "Star-Lord" Quill, with a few alterations. Well, might as well jump right into it, right?**

* * *

In an arid desert, with high, rocky hills all around, three tan Humvees drove through the area on a single dirt path.

In the second Humvee, in the center of the group, a man with a squared jaw, short brown hair, a thin, square beard on his chin with a thin moustache, and blue eyes wearing a tan, patch-camo military uniform with a sturdy helmet sat in the passenger seat as a man drove next to him.

In the back seats, a dark-skinned man with black hair, a simple moustache, and brown eyes wearing the same uniform as the first sat clutching an assault rifle as he listened to the music blaring from a radio set.

Next to him was a man with short black hair styled to the side, a simple, square moustache, a plain moustache, and brown eyes wearing a slate grey suit with a white undershirt, yellow tie, and black dress shoes along with black sunglasses. The man held a glass of scotch in his hand along with a cigar.

The first man in the back turned to the man in the suit and extended a hand with a smile. "It's good to get a chance to actually meet _the_ Tony Stark."

The suited man, Tony, smiled blandly as he shook the other man's gloved hand. "Nice to meet you…" Tony trailed off in thought.

"Wallace. Wallace Weems, but my friends just call me Ripcord," the man, Ripcord, answered.

Tony nodded and said, "Well I consider myself a friend to all, so it'd be rude to call you anything except Ripcord." He turned to the passenger in the front and asked, "So what's up with stoneface over here?"

The passenger in the front turned with a cordial smile and extended a hand to Tony. "Conrad Hauser."

"We just call him Duke," Ripcord interjected.

"Right. Then how 'bout Duke? Do you mind Duke?" Tony asked.

"'Course not," Duke answered curtly before lightly glaring at Ripcord.

"Uh-oh, did I offend someone's sensibilities?"

"No, that's just how Duke is," the man on the other side of Tony answered. "You can just call me Epps, sir," he added.

"Duly noted. How 'bout you Mr. Driver?"

"Lennox," the driver answered.

Ripcord then turned to Duke. "Hey Duke, I've been thinking."

"You know I warned you against that," Duke retorted.

"Come on, man. I've been thinkin' about where we should transfer after this op."

"Don't say air force," Duke muttered.

"The air force!" Ripcord exclaimed excitedly.

"I thought we were done with this conversation."

"No, _you_ were done with this conversation. Now you know I qualify every time we take leave, and I've been flyin' since I was thirteen years old."

"Yeah, I know," Duke responded, exasperated as he turned to Ripcord.

"I even sent in an application."

"I didn't know they accepted those in crayon."

"Come on, man, give me one good reason not to do this."

"I want to be on the ground, in the fight. Not flying over it."

Tony then raised his glass and said, "If it's any consolation, I think you are totally and completely right. You just…don't want to be around when my Jericho missiles get there."

Duke rolled his eyes in response.

Ripcord then interjected, "Hey, is it cool if I get a photo with you? The boys back at the base won't believe me without evidence."

"It is very cool," Tony answered as Ripcord handed a digital camera to Duke, who rolled his eyes in disbelief before turning around to take the picture.

Ripcord then raised two fingers in a victory sign.

"No gang signs, please," Tony remarked.

Ripcord lowered his hand disappointed.

"I'm only joking, throw it up."

Ripcord smirked again and raised his hand.

Duke took the picture right as the vehicle in the front of the convoy immediately exploded.

"Shit! Get down, get down!" Epps shouted as he pushed Tony down.

"Epps, stay in here with Tony!" Lennox ordered as he jumped out the vehicle along with Ripcord and Duke, all three raising their weapons and looking for their attackers.

"In the air!" one of the soldiers from the third vehicle shouted before a blast of blue energy hit the vehicle causing it to explode, sending the man flying.

The soldiers turned as they saw a grey-blue helicopter approach them before a group of people dressed in all black with weapons they'd never seen before jumped out as the helicopter stopped before sections of it began moving and shifting.

The helicopter swiftly turned into a twelve meter, humanoid machine. Its feet slammed onto the ground with a loud thud as its right hand folded away before turning into a short gun with a spinning section at the end of the barrel.

A woman with long, elbow-length black hair and blue-green eyes wearing a tight, black, leather outfit and a pair of black glasses before she raised two pistols towards the group. "Get the package, leave Stark, kill the rest!" she shouted as the soldiers around her charged forward, firing blasts of blue energy from their weapons.

Lennox and Duke opened the doors next to them and used them as cover as they fired shots at the encroaching soldiers.

The large machine stepped towards the group.

"Oh what the hell!?" Ripcord shouted as he aimed his rifle at the behemoth before firing the underslung grenade launcher at it.

The round exploded in the machine's face and it turned towards the group and glared.

"No! Blackout, stop!" the woman shouted as the machine, Blackout, raised its large foot before slamming it down towards the vehicle.

"Move!" Epps shouted as he threw Tony as well as a silver briefcase out of the vehicle before Blackout stomped on it.

"Epps!" Lennox shouted before he began shooting at Blackout.

"Stupid maggots," Blackout snarled as he fired a blast at Lennox, vaporizing him instantly.

Tony stood up and ran away from the area.

"Blackout!" the woman shouted as she shot towards Tony.

Blackout turned and fired a shot at Tony, sending the man flying over one of the rocks and landing on the ground unconscious, the briefcase landing nearby.

Duke and Ripcord turned to fire at the other soldiers as they ran towards the briefcase but Blackout slammed his gun into the ground and fired, sending a shock wave rocketing outward that sent the two flying away.

Blackout stood up as he walked towards the case, the woman picking it up. "Are you sure that is it, Baroness?" Blackout asked incredulously.

The woman, Baroness, nodded with a smirk. "I assure you it's the right package."

Blackout narrowed his eyes before reverting to his helicopter mode.

Duke and Ripcord groaned as the stood up and then crouched near a rock.

Duke narrowed his eyes as he watched Baroness and the others board the helicopter before it flew away.

After a few moments Duke turned to Ripcord. "We gotta grab Tony and get the hell outta here," Ripcord said frantically.

Just as Ripcord was about to stand, Duke grabbed his shoulder and motioned ahead.

They watched silently as several men in ragged, middle-eastern clothing descended the nearby hill and grabbed Tony, before dragging him away.

"Come on man, we gotta get'im," Ripcord whispered.

"Think about it Rip, we're two guys, and we're already banged up. They've got ten guys, fully armed, and coordinated. At least if we're still alive, we can rescue Stark later," Duke argued.

Ripcord remained silent before sighing.

* * *

Inside Blackout, Baroness narrowed her eyes and then turned to the pilot. "Did you check to make sure they're dead?"

"Why should I?" the pilot, who was actually a hologram made by Blackout, asked. "They're just humans. Your kind are so…fragile."

After a moment of silence, Baroness ordered, "Send out Scorponok. I want to make sure they're dead."

The back ramp on Blackout opened as a large, mechanical scorpion emerged and dropped into the sand below, vanishing.

* * *

In a small city in northern California, a man with short, messy, strawberry blonde hair, thin facial hair on his chin and jaw, a simple moustache, and green eyes wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, black gloves, and black boots laid, sprawled under a car as he worked on the undercarriage.

"You gotta be kidding me, it's a mess down here," the man groaned.

"Well when you're a cheapskate you can't exactly get cars in great condition, Quill," a young woman with long, mid-upper arm length, wavy black hair, and blue eyes wearing denim shorts, a white belt, a pink blouse, and black shoes said as she lightly kicked the man's foot.

The man, Quill, rolled out from under the car on a creeper and looked up at the girl. "Mikaela, I thought you wouldn't show for work today." He stood up swiftly and looked around. "So, what've you got for me today?"

The girl, Mikaela, smirked and walked out of the open garage door as Quill followed.

"Wow, that is…" Quill said in thought as he looked at the old, red Camaro that was sat on the back of a small trailer attached to the truck Mikaela had driven, "That is shit."

Mikaela slumped her shoulders in frustration. "What do you want me to do? You don't give me enough money to find any cars worth anything."

Quill waved a hand lightly. "Alright, alright. I said that the car's shit, I didn't say we couldn't fix it. Roll up to the other stall."

Mikaela nodded in understanding.

"Yo, Drax, Groot, we got a new car!"

A tall, heavily muscular, bald-headed man with green skin and red markings all over his body and blue eyes wearing blue pants with black boots walked out from one of the doors.

"Good to see you, Drax," Mikaela said to the muscular man.

Drax nodded as she stopped the truck.

A tall, humanoid, tree-like creature with branches coiling and twisting to form limbs walked up behind Drax.

Mikaela walked over and dropped the gate to the trailer.

"Okay, get it out of there and then we can get to work," Quill remarked.

"I am Groot," Groot said in a deep voice as he and Drax grabbed onto the vehicle and pulled it out of the trailer.

"Is that far enough?" Drax asked.

"Yup, perfect," Quill said.

Groot nodded in response. "I am Groot."

Mikaela pointed to the walking tree and asked, "So you still haven't taught him any new words, huh?"

"Nnope…" Quill said bluntly.

"Hey, if you wanna give it a shot, be my guest," a bipedal, talking raccoon in a black and orange outfit said sarcastically.

"You sound mad. Well, more than usual, Rocket," Mikaela remarked.

"Whaddya want? I thought I finally had the last part to fix the Milano's thruster and it blew up. I'm not exactly thrilled."

"I am Groot," Groot interjected.

"Yes, I had it plugged in correctly you lughead."

"I am Groot."

"No, I didn't have the proper fuel because Star-Lord over here decided to desert us on this backwater mudball!"

"I am Groot."

Mikaela sighed as she turned to Quill. "Well that explains the explosion I heard last night."

"Yeahhh…" Quill replied weakly. He then narrowed his eyes as he looked at the beat up Camaro.

"What's wrong?"

He knelt down and brushed a small amount of dirt from the hood. "Didn't you say you found this in your dad's old collection?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I thought your old man was against modifying identifying characteristics of cars."

"He is. Why?"

Quill pointed to the hood.

Mikaela knelt down and narrowed her eyes.

Where there would normally be a symbol of the car manufacturer there was instead a faded red emblem that vaguely resembled a face.

"Must be one of his pet projects," Mikaela remarked as she stood up.

"Then he's not gonna be happy when he gets back I think," Quill remarked.

Mikaela smirked and said, "He'll probably be angrier that I'm working at another garage instead of keeping his going."

"Ah…yeah. That makes sense."

"Peter, we've got a problem," a woman with green skin, brown eyes, and dark red, wavy hair that reached down to her elbows wearing a simple leather outfit with brown pants, a brown vest with mesh in the front and sides, and brown, fingerless gloves said as she walked into the shop. She then saw Mikaela and narrowed her eyes. "Oh. Hello. Mikaela."

Mikaela nodded towards her lightly. "Gamora." She then leaned towards Quill. "I don't think she likes me."

Quill waved a hand dismissively. "Don't feel bad. She doesn't like anyone."

Gamora narrowed her eyes as she tugged on Quill's ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, that hurts! Damn, why do you always go for the ear?"

"Gets your attention, does it not?" she retorted.

"Yeah, yeah. What's up?"

"We're running low on supplies for the Milano."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Rocket interjected. "I'm having to try and isolate fuel from this primitive Terran fuel, gasoline or whatever. It doesn't play nice with the Milano's engine."

"What are you guys running out of? Maybe I can find some?" Mikaela asked.

"Oh yeah? Think you can find lithium on this planet?"

"Yes, actually."

"Oh…well then can you get some?"

"How about lithium batteries?"

Rocket sighed. "I'd prefer pure, raw lithium but that should do to get us to a Nova refueling station if I can ever get the hunk of junk up and running."

Mikaela nodded and turned to Quill. "You're the one with the money."

Quill nodded in agreement.

* * *

In another, unknown location, a large, nine meter, humanoid machine that was blue, red, and grey with parts of a truck on its body looked at a large, holographic screen floating in front of it.

"Having fun?" a voice asked.

The machine turned around, arms folded, and saw a bald, dark-skinned man with brown eyes, his left covered by an eyepatch with scars around it, in a grey shirt, black pants, black boots, and a long coat standing on a railing at roughly eyelevel with robot. "Director Fury, it's rare for you to visit personally," the robot remarked.

"I'm sure it is, Optimus, but I've got a rare reason," Fury answered.

"And what would that be, Director Fury?" Optimus responded.

"Remember those grumpy friends of yours you mentioned? Somethin' tells me they're here."

Optimus narrowed his eyes in thought. "The Decepticons."

* * *

Duke and Ripcord, along with several other soldiers that had survived the attack, made their way through the desert.

"Do we have any idea where we're headed?" Ripcord asked.

"Lennox told me about a town nearby. A kid from there used to always come to the base to visit him," Duke answered.

"Why aren't we headed to the base, sir?" one of the other soldiers asked.

"It's about sixteen klicks from here to the base. That town should only be about five klicks away. We need to radio back to the Pentagon and tell them what the hell is going on here."

"Right. You sure you know where it is?"

Duke held up a map with a mark on it. "It was in Lennox's seat when we were attacked. I also grabbed Epps' camera. Somehow it survived that thing's foot, and he took a picture of it."

"Then we should get moving before it comes back," Ripcord added.

Duke nodded and the group continued their trek through the sandy wilderness.

* * *

In a large, sealed off room, around a circular table, an older man with white, combed-back hair and blue eyes wearing a black suit sat across from a man with short brown hair that was also combed back and brown eyes wearing a green, dress uniform with multiple emblems on the chest and four stars on his shoulders.

Several other men in similar uniform sat in the room as well.

"General Abernathy," the white-haired man began, "Are you certain of that?"

The brown-haired man, Abernathy, nodded in response. "Yes, Secretary Keller. We had surveillance satellites overhead at all times and have already dispatched a team out to the area. Whoever was behind this attack that case was all they wanted."

Keller sighed in exasperation. "Damn. We sent out four convoys organized exactly the same way. How come only that one was hit? How could those bastards have known the Nanomite programming was even in there? No one outside this room is supposed to have known what was in that case or which convoy had it. And yet these people hit the only convoy that had it and took only that."

"Well that's not what's bothering me," a tall, heavyset man with a bald head, full, white beard, and blue eyes wearing a dark blue suit with a white undershirt and blue and white spotted tie said irritated, "The CEO of Stark Industries was in that convoy and now he's missing. Everyone in the company is scrambling like chickens with their heads cut off."

"I understand your frustration, Obadiah Stane," Abernathy remarked, "But I'd say a bigger problem is someone we don't know has the control programming for a secret military project that was supposed to be a secret joint project between Stark Industries and M.A.R.S. Industries. You don't find that the least bit suspicious?"

"Of course we do, General," a man with slicked back, dark brown hair, and green eyes wearing an all-black, three-piece suit with a purple tie said with a thick German accent, "But that project cannot move forward until we have that case. Stark was supposed to deliver it to a contact in the capitol but with this, that plan is off."

"I'm certain you're very broken up about that, Mr. McCullen," Abernathy remarked.

At that moment the door to the room opened.

"Mr. Secretary, it's time," a man said as he walked through the door.

Keller nodded as he stood up. "General."

Abernathy nodded as he stood up and followed behind Keller, closing the door behind him as the two left.

* * *

In the skies above the USA, a large airplane, Air Force One, flew high above the clouds.

On board, one of the stewardesses, a young woman with long, wavy red hair that reached down to the middle of her back and green eyes wearing a white blouse, with a black coat, knee-length black skirt, black high-heel shoes, and multi-colored scarf along with a gold nametag that read "Kaila Murov" pushed a food cart through the aisle of plane.

"Drink, sir?" she asked a man sitting in the seat to her side.

"Do you have anything with a kick in there?"

"We have scotch, tequila, and several kinds of ale."

"I'll take a scotch."

Kaila nodded as she poured the man's drink before continuing along. After a few steps the pager on her waist beeped. "Oh, darn." She turned to one of the other stewardesses. "Cathy, can you take the cart for me? There's a mess down below and they need me to clean it up."

"Sure," the woman responded as she pushed the cart in Kaila's place.

As Kaila walked along towards the back she noticed a CD player under the seat of one of the passengers. "Excuse me sir."

The man looked up from his newspaper to her mildly annoyed.

"Is that your CD player down there?"

"CD player? What do you think I am, some kind of preteen groupie?"

"Right, I'll take it down to storage then."

"Do whatever you want with it," the man snarled.

Kaila nodded with a smile before she picked up the CD player, rolling her eyes in mild annoyance as she walked towards the back of the plane where an elevator was located and rode it to the lowest level of the plane.

* * *

As Kaila exited the elevator and headed towards the storage compartment, she set the CD player on a nearby table.

After a few moments sections of the player began shifting and turning until the little machine turned into in a one meter tall, thin, skeletal robot.

The robot looked around for a few seconds and then turned to a wall filled with LCD displays and access panels. It narrowed its eyes and then chuckled lightly. "Fohvotk! A'lo veidt kxo ussojj fudoc! Ussojjadw den!" the little machine shouted in a quiet, raspy voice before opening several of the access panels, pulling out some of the mechanisms, and splitting its thin, three-fingered arms into two, two-fingered arms to complete its task faster. "Ussojj: adakaukot! Lahij: ifceutadw!"

"So, you're after the POTUS mainframe."

"Geh?" The machine turned around and saw Kaila standing behind it, a black pistol aimed right at it. "Stupid human!"

Kaila dove to the side as the machine's arms turned into guns and started firing a barrage of shots at her.

"A'm semfhemajot! Jkifat ximud nemud veidt mo!"

Kaila popped out from behind the box she rolled behind and fired at the lanky creature.

The creature ducked to the side and fired more shots at Kaila, putting its two left arms to work on the mainframe.

"Crafty bastard," Kaila muttered before popping out to fire again. She looked around in confusion as she couldn't see it.

"Up here!" the creature shouted as it jumped down and fired several shuriken at her from a slot on its chest.

Kaila dove to the side and then turned around and fired more shots, hitting it in the leg.

"Ouch!" it snarled as it hobbled away.

Kaila hissed in frustration as she noticed the cut on her shoulder. She then noticed that the little creature had sliced off a section of her hair. "Okay. Now I'm pissed." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver disc.

The creature dropped down to fire at her again and she threw the disc at it.

The disc hit the creature in the chest and then released a powerful electric charge, causing the mechanical creature to convulse for a moment before dropping to the ground.

Kaila frowned and then hid her gun away as two men in suits walked through the door.

"Clear!" the first shouted before seeing Kaila. "We have injured!" He walked up to her and then noticed the smoking, collapsed creature nearby. "What the hell happened here…?"

"I don't know," Kaila answered in a frantic, frightened tone. "It just appeared out of nowhere and started firing at me. I think…I think it was going after that computer over there."

The man turned and noticed that several of the computer's panels were open. "Damn. It tried to access the POTUS mainframe. It looks like it didn't-" the man suddenly stopped and grunted before falling over.

Kaila turned and saw the creature stand up before plucking the disc from its chest and crushing it. "Huh. Those are usually more effective than this."

The machine then fired on the other man, killing him, and then went to kill Kaila. However it looked around curiously, unable to find her. "Hmm…hojimadw xusb!" It then placed its hands back on the console and continued its activities.

* * *

Kaila, having escaped from the pint-sized terror, rounded a corner and found a red panel with a switch in the center marked "EMERGENCY". She then pulled the switch down, causing alarms to blare throughout the plane.

* * *

"Nxuk kxo…?! De! Dek Ook!" the little machine snarled as the alarms blared. It continued accessing more files, digging through a vast array of information at a high speed.

* * *

Inside the nerve center of Air Force One, one of the men seated at one of the many consoles alerted, "Someone's accessing the POTUS mainframe!"

"Well don't just sit there, lock it down!" the commanding officer ordered.

The man then flipped a series of switches before pressing a button.

* * *

Back at the bottom level of the plane the creature continued scanning through information before its flow of data stopped. "Nxuk?! De, de, de!" It then looked over the information present on the screen. "Oooohh…Project Iceman…must find, must find!" The information then disappeared. "De!" it snarled as it slammed its head against the screen.

* * *

A short time later, the plane landed in a nearby airport as people began searching the plane for information.

Kaila stepped off the plane, holding a hand over the cut on her arm, and looked around. She saw the little creature sneak into a black and white police cruiser that then drove off.

"Kaila Murov?" a man with short, balding brown hair and blue eyes wearing a black suit with a white undershirt and black tie said as he walked up to her.

"You're late," Kaila snarled.

"Sorry. Traffic," the man apologized weakly as he motioned to the tall, black pickup truck behind him.

The two entered the vehicle and then drove off.

* * *

Inside, Kaila took off her sweater and reached into the glove compartment and began dabbing alcohol onto the wound on her upper arm before bandaging it up.

"Looks like he got you pretty good Natasha," the man remarked.

"He did, Coulson" Kaila, or rather, Natasha, remarked.

Coulson then asked, "Did you recognize him?"

"No. He was short, thin, and spoke mostly Cybertronian with broken English."

"That sounds like Frenzy," a deep voice with a southern accent remarked.

"Didn't realize you were awake, Ironhide," Coulson mentioned.

"I'm always awake. I'm not happy you didn't let me shoot'im. Barricade and Frenzy were right there. I could've-!"

"Jeopardized my mission and the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians," Natasha snarled.

Ironhide sighed in frustration. "Did you at least figure out what he was after?"

Natasha reached into her blouse and pulled out a silver flash drive. "Frenzy must not be very observant. He didn't even notice I plugged this in. It copied and downloaded every bit of information he did. So whatever it is he was looking for, it should be on this drive."

"Sounds good," Coulson said. He then pressed a button on the touch screen in the middle of the center console and said, "Alright Ratchet, bring us back."

In front of them, a blue, hazy bubble of energy appeared which the group drove straight into.

* * *

Back at Quill's shop, Rocket split apart several batteries and dug out silvery metal that was inside. He sighed and looked at the pile in front of him. "You've gotta be kidding. This is barely enough lithium to get us out of this star cluster. Let alone enough to get us to Xandar."

"It seems that money is hard to come by on this planet," Drax remarked.

"You can say that again," Quill retorted.

Drax raised an eyebrow. "It seems that money is hard to come by on this planet."

Quill sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Right…super literal. Forgot."

"I am Groot," the walking tree said.

"Yeah, I know you are."

Groot frowned in annoyance.

Mikaela walked into the back area of the shop and turned to Quill. "It's getting late, so I'm going to head back home, sound good?"

Quill nodded as he walked back into the shop behind her. "Hey, you still remember our little agreement, right?"

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah, I know. Since my dad's a chop shop owner sitting in jail, I've got nowhere else to work. So, I keep quiet about your little, and not so little," she paused as she looked at Groot, "alien friends, and your ship, and I get to keep my job."

"Bingo."

Mikaela nodded and then after a moment asked, "Hey, you know, you never actually told me how you guys got here."

"Didn't I?" Quill asked.

"No, I'd remember if you told me about whatever craziness dropped you guys here on Earth from…wherever it is you came from."

"Right. Well I told you that I'm sort of a…connoisseur of things that aren't mine, right?"

"You mean thief?"

Quill put a hand over his chest dramatically. "Ooh, ouch. I think the T-word is a little strong."

Mikaela rolled her eyes in response.

"Well, whatever. Anyway, there's this really creepy race of aliens called Chitauri. They look like a combination between human, lizard, and booger. Well I was told that they were planning something really big. And whenever creepy aliens plan something really big, there's usually important stuff to take. So me and my pals, we uh, like to call ourselves the Guardians of the Galaxy, took my speedy little ship the Milano-"

Rocket then interjected, "Milano II! I smashed the first one into Ronan's skull, remember?!"

Quill sighed heavily and shouted back, "Yes, Rocket, I remember! You remind me every five minutes about that!" He sighed again and then refocused on Mikaela. "Anyway, we get there, and just as we expected there were a bunch of Chitauri ships all gathered in one spot. But what was really surprising, was that they were all gathered around this other, much bigger ship, looked kinda like an eagle. I…don't actually know what it's called. Whatever, so we headed towards there and were planning on sneaking aboard one of the Chitauri ships, finding something valuable, and then getting out."

"Guess it didn't go according to plan?" Mikaela asked.

"Nnnope. Instead, the Chitauri ships saw us, started firing, hit one of our engines with their creepy, blue, energy shot…stuff. So I had to try and fly and guide the ship somewhere safe. Unfortunately, instead of that we crashed directly into the giant eagle ship. Turns out, what the Chitauri were testing was interstellar jumps. Something they called a Spacebridge. And low and behold, that eagle ship was the test ship. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately depending on your viewpoint, the Milano crashing into that ship destabilized…something. So as we were stuck inside this ship filled with these huge, I'm talking fifteen, twenty feet tall, robots, the whole thing started fallin' apart inside hyperspace. Then we came out, clipped one of the wings on a huge space rock, and the ship began tumbling. Turns out that tumbling was fortunate since it sling-shotted us directly down to Terra, er, Earth's surface. Although the unfortunate part is that our already damaged ship took even more damage in reentry and then more damage still when it crashlanded in that field."

"You know, if I hadn't seen your talking raccoon and the walking tree, I'd probably just think you're crazy," Mikaela responded with a smirk.

Quill shrugged. "I'd say it's a safe bet that I _am_ crazy."

Mikaela then walked up to Quill and put a hand on his chest. "Fortunately, I like crazy."

The two leaned towards each other when Gamora suddenly interjected, "Quill."

Quill and Mikaela immediately stepped apart, flustered, and Quill turned to Gamora. "Ah, y-yeah, what's up?"

Gamora frowned incredulously and said curtly, "Rocket needs you."

"Right, I-I'll uh, be right, right there!" He turned to Mikaela and said, "It's uh…probably best you head home."

"Right," Mikaela responded as she hopped in her truck and left.

* * *

"Hey, hey Duke," Ripcord said as he shook the sleeping man.

"Wh-what…?" Duke asked as he slowly awoke.

"Somethin's not right. Riley hasn't come back yet. He went on watch about twenty minutes ago."

Duke swiftly stood up and then looked around. "Alright. Everyone, up! Let's move."

The other soldiers woke up and looked around before the group began moving.

* * *

After several minutes of walking, one of the other soldiers stopped as his eyes widened.

"Ramirez, what's…wrong…?" Duke trailed off as he saw what Ramirez was seeing, the body of Riley lying on the ground with a large hole in his chest. "Someone knows we're here. We need to move, now!"

* * *

In another location, Abernathy, now wearing blue and grey camouflage with black and grey armor on his torso along with a black beret and a belt buckle with a golden symbol resembling an eagle's head, walked through a pair of sliding doors and turned to a woman with long blonde hair that was pulled back over her ears and green eyes wearing a grey and blue camouflage uniform with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, tall black military boots, and a set of dog tags around her neck, and said, "Cover Girl, have you spotted that team yet?"

"No, sir," Cover Girl responded.

"General Hawk," a man with short, curly black hair, a thin moustache, and brown eyes wearing blue and grey camouflage gear said as he walked up to Abernathy, or rather, Hawk.

"What is it, Breaker?" Hawk responded.

"Sir, Scarlett's team is currently pursuing a target they believe to be an NBE, and one of the ones involved in the attack."

"Tell her to capture it alive if possible. If not, kill it."

"Yes, sir!" Breaker responded with a salute.

* * *

Duke's team continued trekking through the sand before Ripcord stopped and raised a pair of binoculars.

"What's up Rip?" Duke asked.

"That little village Lennox told you about, does it have a big ol' radar dish out front?" Ripcord asked.

"He mentioned that."

Ripcord then handed the binoculars to Duke.

Duke looked through the binoculars and saw a small village of old brick buildings with a large, rusty radar tower near it. "Okay, let's get a move on people, we should be able to find a way to radio the Pentagon there."

* * *

Nearby, the mechanical scorpion poked its head out of the sand and observed the group, listening to their conversation.

* * *

In a massive hall with large, grey pillars jutting out in random directions from the floor to the ceiling, a brown machine with a wide torso stood with its arms folded.

On a communication line to that machine, Blackout reported, "Scorponok has found the survivors, Commander Starscream."

Starscream narrowed his eyes and clenched a fist. "You had assured me there _were_ no survivors, Blackout. Are you telling me you lied?"

"I…yes. It seems that way Commander."

"I'll deal with you when you deliver that package of VI to our fleshy friend. For now, tell Scorponok to terminate those maggots!"

* * *

Scorponok sat silently as Blackout said to him, "Kohmaduko kxo vcojxcadwj."

Scorponok then immediately submerged himself under the sand.

* * *

As Duke's group approached the small village, Duke raised his arm to signal the others to stop.

"Duke, why're we stoppin'?" Ripcord asked.

"Something's not right. This village is supposed to be small, not deserted. I don't see anyone there."

"Maybe they're out shoppin, I dunno. Let's go before this sun gets any brighter."

Duke stopped for a moment and then shook his head. "No. No, I don't like this."

Duke turned to order the others to leave when he stopped and widened his eyes.

"What?" Ramirez asked.

"Ramirez. Don't…move…" Duke ordered as the others turned slowly and raised their weapons, seeing Scorponok's tail raised and poised to strike behind Ramirez.

"Hey hey, come on, I don't-" Ramirez's sentence was cut short as Scorponok's tail impaled him and thrashed him about.

"Shit! Contact, contact! Open fire dammit!" Duke shouted as the group began firing at Scorponok's thrashing tail only for it to disappear underground and pull Ramirez down with it.

Ripcord then shouted, "Duke, I don't know about you but I think we need to get moving!"

"Go, go!" Duke ordered as the group made a sprint towards the seemingly deserted village.

Behind them, Scorponok burst up from the sand before its cylindrical arms folded and shifted into a Neutron assault rifle on the right arm and a Thermo rocket launcher with six missiles on the other arm.

As the soldiers ran towards the village, some of the villagers emerged from their houses only to see Scorponok fire two missiles at the group.

One of the villagers shouted in his native language, pushing some of the others inside their house as the missiles impacted, sending bursts of fire and rock through the air.

Duke widened his eyes as he saw the villagers. "Damn! Protect the villagers!"

Two of the soldiers stopped and turned, opening fire on Scorponok.

Scorponok began firing the Neutron assault rifle on his right arm, sending bursts of energy at the soldiers, barely flinching as the shots from their rifles hit him. He continued firing rockets as the group as well.

"Oh this is bad, our shots aren't even phasing this damn thing!" Ripcord exclaimed frantically.

"Try grenades!" Duke ordered as he fired the grenade launcher mounted to the bottom of his rifle.

Scorponok looked up and saw the incoming projectile and fired a shot from his Neutron assault rifle, blowing it up midair.

"Okay. That could've gone better."

Scorponok pumped his arm, reloading the rocket launcher before firing all six rockets at once.

"Oh shit! Incoming!"

The soldiers all dove to the side as the rockets impacted all around them, hitting the ground as well as the houses around them.

"Duke, you go find a damn phone, we'll hold this thing off!" Ripcord shouted.

Duke nodded and then ordered, "Cover me!"

Ripcord and the others fired a hailstorm of bullets at Scorponok, getting the mechanical scorpion's attention long enough for Duke to get into one of the nearby houses. Ripcord then turned and shouted, "Jenkins! You've got a rocket launcher, use it!"

Jenkins nodded and pulled out the rocket launcher he had slung on his back and then raised it to fire at Scorponok.

Scorponok immediately turned when he realized Duke's team was locking onto him.

Ripcord pulled the pin on one of his grenades and threw it, two of the other soldiers doing the same.

Scorponok's attention was divided as he aimed to shoot the grenades out of the air.

Jenkins then fired the rocket, which slammed into the turbine on Scorponok's back right after he shot the grenades out of the air.

Scorponok rolled and emitted a mechanical howl of pain before looking directly at Jenkins and firing both weapons.

"Jenkins!" Ripcord shouted as the man was thrown back from the explosion.

* * *

Inside the house he'd rolled into, Duke stood up and looked around. He then saw a boy with black hair and brown eyes. "Hey, you. You're the boy that keeps meeting Lennox, right?"

"Lennox?" the boy asked excited. "You know Lennox?"

"Y-yeah. Look, where's your father?" Duke flinched as another explosion shook the house.

"Papa!" the boy shouted as a man came out from one of the rooms.

Duke pointed to the US flag on his uniform and said, "I'm US military, I need a phone, a telephone!"

The boy spoke to the man and he nodded before getting a telephone and giving it to Duke.

Duke nodded gratefully as he dialed a number into the phone.

* * *

Elsewhere in the area, a VTOL aircraft flew through the air. Inside, a woman with long, fire-red hair and green eyes wearing tight, black, armored, battle attire sat looking at images on a tablet screen. She noticed something odd and then said aloud, "We've got a signature for an NBE not far from here. Looks like it's fighting with someone."

"Or something," a man with short black hair that extended to thin facial hair on his chin and jawline, along with a thin mustache and brown eyes wearing black body armor said, sitting next to the woman. "Any details on who or what it's fighting, Scarlett?"

Scarlett shook her head. "No, Flint. All I can tell is that it seems to be fighting humans."

"We should probably go and give them a hand. They could be from the other convoy," a bulky man with dark skin, buzzed, black hair and brown eyes wearing thick body armor, holding a minigun, said with a thick British accent.

After a moment Scarlett nodded. "Heavy Duty's right." She then walked to the front of the vehicle and showed the location to the pilots.

They nodded as the vehicle stopped, turned midair, and then raced towards its new destination.

* * *

Duke waited impatiently as his call carried through before he heard someone answer. "Finally, it's about damn time someone picked up!" He looked out through the window of the building he was in as his team continued fighting against Scorponok. "This is an emergency Pentagon call! Do you understand?! I need to-gah!" Duke shouted as the windows behind him burst from a nearby explosion.

* * *

"Man, I hope he gets this done quick!" one of the other soldiers shouted as they continued firing at Scorponok, watching as the mechanical beast easily threw aside a nearby pickup truck.

"Oh that is not good," Ripcord muttered.

* * *

"I don't have a credit card!" Duke shouted angrily.

The man on the other end of the receiver responded, "Sir, the attitude is not going to speed things up any bit at all. I'm going to ask you to speak into the mouthpiece very clearly."

"I'm in the middle of a war right now, this is ridiculous!" Duke argued as he ran out of the house towards Ripcord and the others.

As he approached the others he shouted, "I need a credit card!"

Ripcord raised an eyebrow but turned to the soldier next to him and said, "Can you give me some cover?"

"You got it," he answered as he fired a grenade at Scorponok, whom swatted at it with his tail, causing it to explode and damage his armor.

Ripcord dug through one of his pockets and then handed the card to Duke. "I don't know what kinda weirdo you're talkin' to but make it quick. We are runnin' outta ammo fast."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Duke snarled as he read the card's information to the man on the phone.

* * *

Scarlett looked at her tablet curiously. "Looks like the soldiers fighting with this NBE are calling for backup."

"Then let's give it to'em," Heavy Duty suggested.

Scarlett nodded as their vehicle reached the location of Duke's team.

Duke and the others looked up as the VTOL approached.

The last soldier that was with Duke and Ripcord stood up to signal the VTOL.

"Simon!" Duke shouted as the man stood up, only to get hit directly by one of Scorponok's missiles.

Duke crouched behind the wall he was in front of before he looked around him. He clenched his hands around his weapon as he saw that he and Ripcord were the only ones left from their convoy. "You bastard. You're going to pay for this." He stood up and turned around, firing a grenade from his weapon straight at Scorponok.

The scorpion rolled to the side but was struck in the tail once more.

The VTOL descended slightly and one of the side doors opened up, allowing Heavy Duty to stand on the platform and raise his minigun. "I'm gonna enjoy this." The barrels of his gun spun up before firing a storm of shots at Scorponok.

Scorponok flinched as he felt the rounds impact from behind. He turned as one of them hit him in the face, damaging one of the panels around his eyes.

Heavy Duty smirked as he continued firing. "Yeah, you bastards don't like these sabot rounds."

Scorponok turned fully and began firing at the VTOL, scuttling from side to side to avoid the explosive rounds Heavy Duty was firing at him.

Scarlett turned to her side and said, "You're up, Snake Eyes."

Snake Eyes, man wearing an all-black, armored bodysuit with a black visor and a katana on his back, nodded before the back hatch of the VTOL opened. The VTOL rushed forward, Heavy Duty continuing to fire on Scorponok, before Snake Eyes leapt from the plane, withdrew his katana, and spun as he dove down towards Scorponok, landing on the beast's back.

"This guy's gotta be crazy," Ripcord remarked as Snake Eyes held onto Scorponok's back armor, keeping away from the spinning turbine in the robot's back.

Snake Eyes then jumped, spun, and swung his sword, slicing a large gash in Scorponok's tail.

Scorponok howled in pain and then reached up and tried to ensnare Snake Eyes.

Snake Eyes flipped off Scorponok's back as Scarlett raised a crossbow with a screen on the side. She fired a bolt aimed directly at Scorponok's head.

However, he swung his tail at the moment, causing it to lodge in the gash Snake Eyes had carved.

Scorponok turned around to shoot at the VTOL but the crossbow bolt exploded, severing his tail. Scorponok howled once more and began spinning its claws before burrowing into the ground.

"Oh no you don't!" Heavy Duty growled as he fired at Scorponok, unfortunately not stopping him from escaping.

Duke stood up in awe as the VTOL descended.

"Are you injured?" Scarlett asked as she walked over to Duke and Ripcord.

"Who are you people?" Duke demanded.

"Can't say. I'll ask again. Are you injured?"

"No, I'm fine. But he needs help," Duke said, motioning to Ripcord.

Ripcord sat nearby, clutching his side.

"Do you need transportation?" Scarlett asked.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

Scarlett motioned to the VTOL and Duke helped Ripcord stand and then walked over to the VTOL.

After a few moments the VTOL flew away with the group sequestered inside.

* * *

"So just what kinda outfit is this anyway?" Duke asked. "It's not regular army based on those accents."

"You're very perceptive," Heavy Duty mentioned as he removed his armor.

"Ow!" Ripcord hissed as Scarlett stuck a needle in his arm.

"I thought you special ops guys were supposed to be tough," Scarlett taunted.

"We are. But we're also soft inside."

Scarlett narrowed her eyes in annoyance before she began working on the injury on his side.

Ripcord began swaying side to side. "Whoa…that's primo stuff you guys got."

Duke shook his head and then turned to Snake Eyes. "What about you? Where you from?"

"He doesn't speak," Flint interjected.

"Why not?"

"He doesn't say," Heavy Duty rebutted.

Duke sighed.

"How 'bout you, where were you born?" Flint asked.

"Duke wasn't born, he was government issued," Ripcord joked as he was lying down, only to get his head pushed back down by Scarlett.

Duke then asked, "You plan on going after those guys that attacked my convoy, killed my guys, right? Those…things…? If you are, then I want in."

Scarlett glanced at Snake Eyes who nodded in response.

* * *

The VTOL took a sharp turn to the right before speeding to its destination.

* * *

Quill slept in his bed quietly, Gamora beside him.

Outside, the red Camaro sat before it suddenly started up, flaring the engine several times.

Quill began to stir in his bed as the sound hit his ears. He then recognized the sound and his eyes snapped open. "Oh shit!" He immediately sprung out of his bed and grabbed a blue and silver gun with two barrels from the nightstand, threw on a red, leather jacket, and rushed out to the garage, only to see the red Camaro back out of the garage swiftly and roughly, smashing the door open.

"Hey! Stop! That's my car you bastard!" Quill shouted as he fired several shots of energy from his gun, missing the car as it drove away. Quill snarled before punching the railing.

* * *

As he ran back inside, Gamora, still in her night attire, looked at him alarmed. "Quill, what is happening?"

"Someone just stole one of the cars from my garage," Quill explained as he changed clothes, wearing a grey shirt, knee-length red coat, dark blue pants, with two guns holstered on his hips, long black boots, and a messenger bag slung over his right shoulder.

"Then you plan to get it back? Let me come with you."

"No way, you can't risk being spotted. Stay here and stay by the phone."

Gamora narrowed her eyes but nodded in response.

* * *

Quill walked into the garage and walked up to a silver Dodge Challenger and got in, starting the vehicle before chasing after his stolen vehicle.

* * *

"I am Groot," the walking plant said calmly.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Rocket replied.

"I am Groot."

"Yes, I am certain he will be. I built the damn thing."

"I am Groot…"

* * *

As Quill chased after his stolen car, a black and white police muscle car started blaring its sirens and pursuing him. "Oh come on, I do NOT need this right now!" Quill shifted gears and sped up, trying to outrun the police cruiser.

To his dismay, the pursuing officer kept right on his tail.

"Okay, you wanna play it that way?" Quill opened a panel on his car's dashboard, exposing a red button. "If this doesn't work Rocket, I'm shavin' you and making a wig." He then pressed the button, causing the car to immediately speed up greatly.

The red Camaro took a sharp turn and proceeded into a power plant.

Quill turned the wheel sharply, following after the car thief.

The police car attempted to follow the drift, but lost traction and slid into a parked car before speeding off after Quill.

* * *

Quill chased after the red car before it suddenly slid to a stop. Quill stopped as well and got out of his car, raising one of his rifles towards his stolen car. "Alright asshole, out! That's my car and you stole it!"

The red car's engine revved several times.

Quill smirked in response. "That's how you wanna play, eh?" He then turned around as he saw the police cruiser behind him. "Oh, come on."

As the police car sped towards him it seemingly broke apart as sections and parts of it began shifting and moving, the car rolling forward before it stood up as a five meter, black and white, humanoid robot with four, red eyes.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me."

"Give me the glasses!" it shouted before the red Camaro sped forward, also transforming into a five meter humanoid robot which then charged at the police car robot, body slamming into it and tackling it to the ground.

"Go, now!" the red robot shouted, only for the black robot to kick it away.

"Oh shit!" Quill cursed as he dove to the side before the red robot fell onto and smashed his car. "Oh, come on!"

The black robot stood up and wiped away a small trail of blue liquid leaking from its mouth. "You're too persistent, Hot Rod."

Hot Rod stood up, flexing his arms, and retorted, "And you're too ugly, Barricade."

"Che, cheap talk from a weak Autobot!" Barricade shouted as his hand turned into an Neutron assault rifle which he fired at Hot Rod.

Hot Rod rolled to the side, rolling through a small shack, as his right hand turned into a Scatter Blaster, before he spun and fired at Barricade. Hot Rod then turned to Quill. "Go, get out of here! He's after you!"

"Uh, r-right," Quill stammered before he slammed one of his feet on the ground, causing rockets attached his boots to fire off, launching him into the sky as a grey helmet with red lenses formed on his head.

"Tch," Barricade snarled before his chest opened up, Frenzy emerging from within. "I'll deal with the Autobot, you capture that human!"

"Hawxk!" Frenzy responded before chasing after Quill.

"You'll deal with me?" Hot Rod rebutted as he walked onto the small path Barricade was standing on. "You wouldn't know how to deal with a door."

Barricade narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Let's test that, shall we?" The tire on the back of his left hand folded away and turned into a buzz saw that spun loudly and turned bright orange.

The armor on the back of Hot Rod's left arm shifted slightly as a long, sharp hook emerged, lighting up with a bright orange color. "We shall."

* * *

Quill continued flying away from Barricade and Hot Rod's fight before he landed on the sidewalk. "You've gotta be kiddin' me with this shit." He turned around and saw Frenzy sprinting towards him. "Oh screw you!" he shouted as he fired several shots at the thin robot.

Frenzy easily ducked and weaved through Quill's shots.

"Huh…I thought that would go better."

Quill then fired off his rocket boots once more and took off from Frenzy.

Frenzy leapt up to try and grab Quill but Quill fired a shot from the lower barrel of his gun, sending an electric surge through Frenzy's body.

Frenzy hit the ground and convulsed momentarily as Quill flew away.

* * *

Hot Rod swung his hook at Barricade, but the black robot ducked under the attack and then thrust his spinning blades at Hot Rod.

Hot Rod caught Barricade's arm under his own, elbowed him in the face, and then spun around, tossing Barricade into one of the nearby smokestacks.

Barricade grunted in pain before firing his Neutron assault rifle at Hot Rod.

Hot Rod jumped and took cover behind one of the shacks, narrowly evading Barricade's shots. He then stood up over his cover and fired several shots at Barricade.

Barricade ran to the side, firing a string of shots at Hot Rod.

Hot Rod rolled behind one of the large tanks and reloaded his shotgun.

Barricade jumped on top of the tank and fired down at Hot Rod.

Hot Rod dove to the side, taking a hit to the left arm.

"It's time to cease functioning, Autobot!" Barricade shouted as he leapt down to Hot Rod, his buzz saw raised to strike.

However Hot Rod smirked and retorted, "You first, Decepticon." He then fired a shot from his Scatter Blaster directly at Barricade, hitting him in the torso and slamming him against the tank, hard.

Barricade fell to the ground and slumped down.

Hot Rod stood up and flexed his left arm as his weapons receded. "You're lucky you didn't scratch my paint. Quill just applied it." He then transformed back into his vehicle form and drove away.

* * *

Gamora looked out the window as Quill landed on the ground below. She then jumped over the railing down to where he was. "Quill, what happened? Where are the cars?"

"Yeah, where's that car I put so much time and effort into?" Rocket asked.

Quill took several deep breaths as his helmet folded away. "We've got a problem. A big one. You guys remember those Transformer things from that ship we crashed into?"

Rocket and Gamora looked at each other, then to Quill and nodded.

"Well, they're here. On Terra. And for some reason they're after me. That red car, was one of them. It, and me, were chased by a cop car that was another one. And then all of sudden they started having a giant droid deathmatch as I got away."

"Okay, what about that car I built?"

"Oh. The uh…the cop car through the Camaro guy onto it. Sorry."

Rocket threw his hands to the side angrily. "You gotta be kiddin' me! So we're getting chased by Cybertronians AND you lost our car?!"

" _Our_ car? Look you little furball, that was my car! You're not even tall enough to drive it!"

"So what?! I built the damn thing!"

"Enough!" Gamora shouted as she pushed the two aside. "If we really are getting chased by Cybertronians, then we need to-!"

Gamora's sentence was interrupted as Hot Rod pulled up to the property.

"Nuh-uh! No way! Bet the hell out of here!" Quill shouted as he pulled out his rifle.

"Listen to me," Hot Rod requested, "I'm not one of the bad guys. The Decepticons, they're the ones who want to kill you."

"Oh yeah? And how do I know you're not one of them, huh?!"

"I'm not," Hot Rod said plainly.

"I am Groot," Groot added.

Quill looked between Groot and Hot Rod unsurely before sighing and lowering his weapon. "Alright, but if he tries to kill us I'm turning you into a chair."

Groot shrunk back in response.

"We should take this inside, there might be other Decepticons in the area," Hot Rod urged.

"If there are, then they'll be coming here," Rocket added.

Quill nodded in agreement before raising an eyebrow in thought. "Hey, red, what's your name?"

"Hot Rod."

"You got room for four and a tree in there?"

"You must be joking," Gamora answered.

"Look, Groot trusts this thing and so far he hasn't tried anything suspicious. Besides, it's not like we have any other transportation."

"Peter is right," Drax interjected as he stowed two knives in holsters on his pants. "We have no other means of transportation."

"Thank you Drax," Quill replied.

Drax nodded in response.

"Fine, then let's get moving," Gamora replied.

"Ooh, hold on a sec. Lemme grab a few things," Rocket requested as he headed inside the house.

"Hurry up!"

* * *

Shortly thereafter, Hot Rod, with Quill and Gamora seated in the front, and Drax, Groot, and Rocket squeezed into the back seat, drove away from the garage.

"So, where do we go from here?" Quill asked. "And just what is going on here?"

Hot Rod replied, "To meet with someone who can answer those questions a lot better than I can."

* * *

After a short drive, Hot Rod drove into dark, foggy alley.

"I don't like this," Rocket said worriedly.

"Well, might as well face the music," Quill remarked.

"Music is a sound, you cannot look at it," Drax argued.

Quill sighed heavily. "Just get out of the car."

The group exited Hot Rod before the latter stood up in his robot mode.

Moments later they saw several lights breaking through the fog.

Soon a large, blue and red semi-truck with a flame pattern, a black pickup truck, a green, Hummer ambulance, a red, modern Camaro, a sleek, yellow Camaro, and a silver Solstice drove out of the fog and up to the group.

"Don't tell me those are all Cybertronians," Rocket remarked.

Almost immediately all six vehicles began shifting and moving, transforming in humanoid robots of various sizes.

The semi-truck, or rather, Optimus, stood up ten meters high, a faceplate folding away to reveal a mechanical mouth as he knelt down to look at Quill and the others better. He turned to Quill and asked, "Are you Peter Jason 'Star-Lord' Quill?"

Quill made a light, victorious fist bump. "Yes, someone remembered my title." He then shook his head and tried to look more serious. "I, uh, yes. Yes, I'm Star-Lord."

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron."

The eight meter, green robot shrugged in response. "I would've said Autobots."

Optimus nodded and motioned to him. "This is Ratchet, my chief medical officer."

"Good to meet you." Ratchet then looked down at Quill. "It seems your body has been heavily augmented with cybernetics."

"Ah, yeah. There's a lot of long stories behind that," Quill replied.

Optimus then motioned to the eight meter tall black robot and explained, "This is Ironhide, my weapons specialist."

Ironhide nodded as his he spun the Magma Frag Launchers on his forearms. "Well, do ya feel lucky, punk?"

Drax stepped forward and withdrew his daggers. "Hahah! A worthy opponent."

Quill put a hand on Drax's shoulder. "Uh, he's just referencing a movie."

"But he asked-"

"It's…a joke."

"I see."

Ironhide smirked in amusement.

Optimus motioned to the three meter tall silver robot next to him. "This is Jazz, my second in command."

"This looks like a good place to kick it," Jazz remarked with a deep voice as he spun before sitting lazily on a junked car.

"You don't talk like the others."

"We've learned Earth's languages through your world wide web," Optimus responded.

"Yeah, you turkeys look like you've got some pretty weird interests," Jazz said comically.

Optimus then stood up as the newer-looking, five meter tall red robot and the five meter tall yellow robot walked up beside him. "These are two of my scouts, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee."

The red robot, Cliffjumper, gave a lazy salute and said, "Nice to meet'cha."

The yellow robot nodded and remarked lightly, "It's good to have you back, Hot Rod."

Optimus then motioned to Hot Rod and said, "You've already met Hot Rod."

"So, uh, why are you guys here, anyway? Were you on that ship we crashed into?" Quill asked.

Optimus shook his head. "No. That ship was of Decepticon command. We have been here on this planet, Earth, for over four hundred cycles."

"Uh, how long is that exactly?"

Ratchet explained, "One cycle is roughly equivalent to one of your Earth years."

"Whoa. That's old."

Optimus huffed in irritation. "It is but a blink of the optic for our kind."

"More importantly, what do you want?" Gamora asked.

"A lot of things," a new voice added.

Gamora and the others tensed as Coulson walked out from a dark corner.

Coulson smirked. "Sorry, the fog was really thick in that corner, I couldn't resist."

"You are lucky I did not act on instinct, otherwise you would be broken in half," Drax threatened.

"So, uh, who are you?" Quill asked.

"Phil Coulson, agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

"That…is a really long name. You ever think of something shorter like…S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"We're working on it. I'll take your suggestion into consideration."

"So…why don't you tell me what it is you guys want and why you sent speedy over here to my house."

"We want those glasses you put up for sale on EBay."

Quill raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Those old things? Why would you guys want them?"

"That's classified."

"Ohhh no. You're not pullin' that on me buddy. I ain't givin' nothin' to no one unless I know what I'm getting into and whether I'm getting paid or not."

Optimus turned to Coulson.

Coulson shrugged. "If you want to tell him go ahead. Personally, if it were me I'd just stuff him in a cell and leave it at that."

"At least now we know why you don't have any friends," Cliffjumper teased.

Optimus nodded and then looked at Quill. "We've come for the Allspark."

* * *

Back in the desert, the VTOL Duke and the others were on neared its destination when the plane was suddenly struck by something that crashed on the ground below.

"What the hell was that?!" Ripcord exclaimed.

"Hold it here, we have to make sure the transport's not damaged!" Scarlett ordered.

The pilot nodded as the back hatch opened.

Scarlett looked around on the ground below when she noticed something lying in the sand below.

Duke stepped up beside her and looked down as well. He narrowed his eyes before widening them in shock. "Holy shit, that's Tony Stark!"

"Take us down!" Scarlett ordered.

"Yes ma'am," the pilot responded as the VTOL landed on the ground.

Scarlett and Duke jumped out and ran over to Tony, who was partially stuck in the sand, wearing the remnants of what appeared to be a suit of armor, and with a circular light shining in his chest.

"I can't believe you're alive," Duke said as he helped Scarlett pull Tony from the sand.

"Hey, it's fighting man. Good to see you," Tony replied, dazed and confused.

"I don't know what the hell happened to you but you look like hammered shit."

"Yeah, well being held for a few days by a bunch of terrorists will do that to a man."

"There's a story here."

"You can hear it in the plane. For now we need to get Mr. Stark back to U.S. soil," Scarlett interjected.

After the three boarded the VTOL, the rear hatch closed and the plane took off into the sky and flew away, swiftly.

* * *

Quill took a deep breath as he collected his thoughts. "Okay, so you're saying you're here to find this giant cube that supposedly creates life, or something like that?"

"Correct," Optimus responded.

"And you think that the glasses my dead great-grandfather wore when he went snooker loopy has the map to finding it?"

"That is what we believe. However, we can only confirm it once we have the item in our possession."

Quill thought for a moment and then turned to Coulson. "Will you pay me for it?"

"I would think not rotting away in a prison cell for the rest of your natural life is payment enough," Coulson replied.

"I'm uhh…gonna take that as a no."

"That'd be smart."

Quill then looked up at the tall alien robots standing around him. "Whatever. But I'm losing both money and property in this deal."

"Yes, but you'll be helping to save the world."

"How?"

"The Decepticons also hunt for the Cube. And they too have likely deduced that your glasses hold the key to finding them," Optimus explained.

"Uh-oh."

"What?" Coulson asked confused.

"The glasses are at my house."

"Then we should get moving, immediately," Optimus suggested.

"No, no. I mean, they're at my house, and no one else is. What if that cop car guy, Barricade or whatever, what if he or his little gremlin get there before us?"

Optimus nodded in understanding. "Then let's get moving. Autobots, transform and roll out!"

* * *

As the VTOL flew over the Atlantic Ocean, Scarlett walked into the cockpit. "We drop Stark off and then we head to the Pit. Our two carry-ons will be joining us."

"Yes ma'am."

"What's the Pit?" Duke asked.

"You'll find out when we get there," Scarlett answered.

* * *

As Quill and the others returned to his home/garage, Quill hopped out of Optimus, Coulson doing the same.

"Something wrong?" Quill asked.

"I just want to make sure we get the glasses," Coulson answered.

Quill narrowed his eyes but went inside to get the glasses regardless, Coulson following behind him.

* * *

As they walked into the house part of the structure, Quill went upstairs, Coulson continuing to follow, and opened one of the drawers in the dresser in his room, pulling out a small brown case. He handed it to Coulson, but did not let go.

Coulson looked at him mildly annoyed.

"I do want _something_ outta this deal," Quill responded bluntly.

"I'll see what I can do," Coulson responded as Quill let go of the case. He opened the case and saw an old pair of small, round spectacles inside with several intricate scratches on the lenses. He then closed the case and nodded with a smile. "Good. That'll be all." As Coulson turned to leave he felt something touch the back of his head and sighed. "Mr. Quill, that's really not a good idea."

"I don't know who you guys are, and all of sudden you suits and these giant robots just appear outta nowhere. Because of your little war goin' on I lost my own personal car, a car I thought I'd be fixing up, and a pair of glasses I was planning on selling. You people really put me out so I'd like something for my trouble."

"I will see to it that you're properly compensated, but that's all I can offer."

Quill narrowed his eyes and then looked out the window. "How 'bout the yellow guy to replace my Charger? That thing was hard to build."

"You'll have to take that up with Optimus."

* * *

Outside, Quill and Coulson walked up to the group and Optimus asked, "Do you have them?"

Coulson raised the case to show Optimus.

As Coulson began to get back in the cab, Quill coughed lightly.

Coulson sighed and then turned to the front of Optimus' vehicle mode. "Mr. Quill…would like to know if Bumblebee will act as his Guardian as compensation for his trouble."

"Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.

"I don't mind, sir," Bumblebee responded.

"Very well then. Hot Rod, you'll return to base with us."

"Yes, sir."

Bumblebee slowly drove up beside Quill. "Guess this means I'll be staying here for a while."

Quill nodded as Coulson got back into Optimus and the others drove off. "You're fast, right?"

"I can go about four hundred kilometers a millicycle."

"I'm…just going to assume that's really fucking fast."

After Optimus and the others had left, Quill opened one of the garage doors for Bumblebee to park in.

"Peter, can we go back to bed now?" Gamora asked.

"Yeah. I wanna get some sleep too," Quill answered.

"Quill!" a voice shouted.

Quill turned to the side and saw Mikaela riding up to his house on a light green scooter. "Mikaela, what are you doing here?"

"I heard explosions and shouting from this direction. What the hell is going on?"

"It's…kinda hard to explain. Look, you really don't want to get involved with this stuff so you should just head home."

Mikaela frowned in frustration but nodded and got back on her scooter and rode away.

Quill sighed as he and the others made their way inside.

* * *

As Mikaela rode away from Quill's house, she watched curiously as several large, black SUVs drove past her in the opposite direction. She stopped and narrowed her eyes suspiciously before driving down a nearby alleyway.

* * *

Quill walked upstairs when he saw the SUVs approach his house. "Oh you gotta be jokin'."

Quill stepped outside as the vehivles parked in front of his house, several men in black suits stepping out and walking up to him.

A man with short, combed back black hair and brown eyes, wearing an all-black suit, walked up to Quill and raised a badge with a circular emblem that had the words "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division" printed on it. "My name is Agent Seymour Simmons. Are you Peter Quill?"

Peter sighed in frustration. "Yeah, look, I thought I already gave you a-holes what you wanted."

Simmons frowned in annoyance. "No, no. You must be mistaken. I am a Level Seven agent with the Strategic Homeland-"

"S.H.I.E.L.D., you guys should really think about changing that to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Simmons narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Search the house for any signs of NBEs."

* * *

 **And done. There is that done, let me know what you all thought, how you like this story, this new type of story (Live-action based rather than anime) and the usual matters. Until then, buh-bye.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

 **Hello to all! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. I also hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. There is not too much else to add aside from thanking my secondary author, Bakuto Masaki, for all his help with this story. Either way, be sure to leave a review telling me what you thought of the chapter and of what you think of the story, be it good, bad, or otherwise. Also feel free to leave a review if anything confuses you or if you have any questions, as I will do my best to explain it to you within the spoiler-free context of a reviewer response. Speaking of, it is time for reviewer responses. So let us get to it.  
**

 **edboy4926: Thanks. Well here is more for you.**

 **sur2sur: I hope you continue to read it.**

 **Well, that is all to say here, so time to move on to the main event.**

* * *

Quill stood out in front of his home cross repair garage in the middle of the night with several large SUVs from the Strategic Homeland Intelligence, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, the head of that small group of agents, Seymour Simmons, having just ordered the others to search Quill's home.

"Hey! This is my house, private property! You can't just go in without reason!" Quill argued.

Simmons smirked and held up his S.H.I.E.L.D. badge. "You see this? This is my do whatever I want and get away with it badge. Now I don't know about you and your…inhuman friends, your houseplant and your pet raccoon, but I would stand down and let me do my job if I were you."

"Hey! I am NOT his pet!" Rocket snarled.

Simmons backed up as Rocket bit his leg. "Hey! Back off you anthropomorphic rodent!" He then pointed a gun at Rocket.

Quill then heard sounds of smashing from his house before he glared at Simmons. "You'd better stop your little buddies right now before I get pissed."

"Oh? And what are you going to do?"

Quill smirked. "Drax, Groot! Mess these guys up."

"With pleasure," Drax responded as he withdrew his knives.

Two of the agents turned as Drax charged at them. They fired several shots from their pistols but Drax rolled under their shots and punched them square in the chest as he rolled to a stand, sending them flying into the SUVs.

Inside the house, Groot picked up one of the agents and threw him at two others, causing them both to land on the ground.

"You're gonna regret that," Simmons threatened.

Several agents turned to Quill and fired, but Quill jumped into the air, with the help of his rocket boots, and then fired at the agents with his rifles, knocking two of them to the ground.

Another agent grabbed a silver stick from his coat, knelt down, stabbed it into the ground, and pressed a button on top. All of the other agents, including Simmons, lowered themselves as a small, cylindrical device popped out of the stick, lit up, and then released a burst of energy outwards, knocking Quill and Drax to the ground and blast out most of the windows in Quill's house.

Quill shook his head to relieve the headache. "Whoa, that hurt."

"What kind of weaponry is that?" Drax demanded as he stood up shakily.

"Sir, I found something you might want to see," one of the agents called out as he walked towards the group, holding a gun to Mikaela's head.

"Mikaela! What the hell are you doing here?" Quill shouted.

Mikaela tried to break free of the man's grip, but to no avail. "Sorry, I saw those vans driving over here and…"

Quill sighed angrily and then turned to Simmons.

"Alright, _boy_ , you and your little friends stand down and this pretty little girl over here won't have to find out what it's like to have several hundred volts of electricity surging through her."

Quill narrowed his eyes angrily, stowed his weapons, raised his arms, and then called out, "Alright guys, stop fighting."

Drax took several angry breaths before sheathing his blades.

Groot, Gamora, and Rocket also gathered around the group.

Quill looked around and then frowned angrily. "Hey Bee, you're supposed to be my guardian, right? Then get your ass out here!"

"I think he's lost it, sir," one of the agents said to Simmons.

At that moment the door to Quill's garage exploded as Bumblebee burst out and raced towards the group.

Bumblebee shifted to his robot mode as he stood up and stepped between Quill's group and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, his Plasma Cannon armed.

One of the agents began breathing heavily before he rushed back to his SUV.

"What? Agent Cole, don't-!" Simmons shouted as the agent pulled a large, bulky weapon with a wide barrel from the vehicle.

"Oh that can't be good," Quill muttered as the man fired a blast of energy at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee rolled to the side as the blast flew past him and then hit Quill's house, blasting a large hole in the side.

Quill gaped and then turned to Simmons. "That's my house you asshole!"

Simmons began to pull a weapon from his coat when a voice shouted, "Stand down Agent Simmons." Simmons turned and saw Coulson stepping out of Ironhide's vehicle mode.

"What?" Simmons asked in confusion.

"Stand down Agent Simmons, that's an order," Coulson repeated as he put a hand over his face in exasperation.

"Wh-what? But sir…!"

Coulson responded, trying to hide his frustration, "They are friendlies Agent Simmons. Besides, I already owe Mr. Quill a debt and now you've made it even bigger."

Simmons furrowed his brow in confusion. "Debt? What debt?"

Quill chuckled in exasperation and then said irritably, "Oh, I don't know, how about that red beater getting into a giant droid deathmatch that totaled my car, followed by me finding out my newest job was just an alien robot scout…thing, in disguise, and you bastards took my great-grandfather's antique glasses! And now you shot at me! Plus Dirty Harry over there put a hole in my house!"

Coulson sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah…sorry about that. He's a Level Seven."

"I...don't know what that means but I'm going to assume it means he's stupid."

"Yeah, they tend to jump the gun."

"Hey, you're taking the fugitive's side?!" Simmons asked in shock and frustration.

"The only reason he's a fugitive is because you made him one. And the damages are coming out of your pay."

Simmons gaped and then pointed at Rocket. "His pet raccoon bit me!"

Rocket snarled, "How many times do I gotta tell you, I ain't his pet!" He then lunged at Simmons, biting his other leg.

Simmons hopped for a few moments, clutching his leg, before turning to Coulson and exclaiming, "You saw that, right?! That was assault! Assault on a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!"

Coulson, who was busy looking at the hole in Quill's house, turned to Simmons. "Hmm? I didn't see anything."

Groot laughed lightly. "I am Groot."

Mikaela nodded with a smirk. "Yeah. He is pretty cool."

Simmons looked at her in disbelief. "You actually understand that walking houseplant?"

"I am Groot" the tree repeated.

"Yeah, you are Groot, I get it. I noticed."

Gamora sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's one of those days."

Mikaela shook her head and added, "I don't know how you do it."

"Alcohol. Lots of alcohol. And sometimes sex."

Mikaela turned to her surprised.

Quill then walked over to Coulson. "Look, I don't know how you Strategic Homeland-whatever guys plan to deal with this. But the amount of shit you guys are introducing to me is _really_ starting to increase."

Coulson narrowed his eyes in thought and asked, "How about I offer you a job?"

"With the guys who blew up my house and crushed my car? No way."

"How about a few incentives added?"

Quill stood silently in thought for a moment and then asked, "Do I get to pick the incentives?"

"Yes. I reserve the right to accept or deny them, but I'll see what I can do."

"Alright…" Quill said as he folded his arms in contemplation.

"Whoa, whoa, you're not actually thinking of working with these suits, are you?" Rocket asked.

Quill put up a hand to silence the rodent momentarily. "Okay, Agent Coulson, how about this: I, and maybe the others, work for this S.H.I.E.L.D. and in return you give us a place to store the Milano, the supplies and equipment to repair it, a new place to call home, _and_ Mikaela's juvie record cleansed."

Mikaela looked at him surprised.

"You think I didn't know about that? Just being associated with a criminal wouldn't be enough to stop you getting a job, so I had Rocket look into it. I know that you were given a record because you wouldn't turn your father in." Quill then turned to Coulson. "And that's a pretty shitty reason to give someone a mark on their record. You wipe that clean and we're good."

Coulson remained silent in thought for several moments.

"Well?" Quill urged.

"You're asking for quite a lot I hope you know," Coulson replied.

"I know that. But I also know you guys only want to hire us so you can keep Big Brother eyed in on what we're doing. I'm willing to accept that under these conditions."

Coulson smirked in response. "You're a very shrewd negotiator. I make no promises but I will do what I can to fulfill your requirements. In the meantime, Bumblebee will remain here at your home, while I return to my headquarters and sort this mess out."

Quill nodded in response as Coulson, Simmons, and the other agents began to leave.

As they left, Rocket walked up to Quill. "Are you crazy?" he asked quietly. "They're going to bury us in red tape."

Quill knelt down and replied, "Yes, but they're also going to give us what we need to fix the Milano."

Rocket raised an eyebrow and then smirked. "And then we fire it up and get the hell off this rock."

"Bingo."

"Nice…"

* * *

The VTOL Duke and the others were in landed in an American airport as a black limousine drove up.

A woman with waist-length strawberry blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail, and blue eyes wearing a white blazer, black blouse, white, knee-length skirt, and grey, high-heeled shoes walked up to the transport.

As the back hatch lowered, Tony, his left arm in a sling, stepped out to meet her.

"Tony! You…you're actually alive!" the woman exclaimed.

"Yes Pepper, I am still very much alive. I feel like I got run over by a train but I'm alive," Tony replied.

"Good to see you alive and well Tony," Obadiah remarked as he walked up to the group.

Tony then turned to Pepper as he walked towards a silver Audi R8. "Pepper, I want you to call a press conference."

"What? Now?" Pepper asked in confusion. "We need to get you to a hospital first."

"No, press conference now. Actually, scratch that. Before the press conference I want a cheeseburger. Then the press conference."

As Pepper tried to argue with him, Tony and Obadiah entered the R8, which had a triangular, pointed emblem on the grill, and drove away.

"You think they'll be okay?" Duke asked as he sat in the VTOL, watching the exchange.

"Aah, they'll be fine," Ripcord rebutted.

Scarlett narrowed her eyes as Tony and Obadiah drove away before telling the pilots to take off.

* * *

Quill was busy putting boards over the hole in his wall when Rocket suddenly came rushing into the living room.

"Quill! Turn on the TV!" Rocket shouted.

"Whoa, whoa, Rocket, slow down. What's goin' on?" Quill asked in confusion.

"You remember that Tony Stark guy, the one who makes all those weapons?"

"Well, yeah. His dad, Howard Stark, was a big name when I was a kid. Why?"

"It seems he's lost his marbles." Rocket then turned on the television and switched to a news channel that showed Tony, eating a cheeseburger, sitting in front of a podium.

Quill watched curiously as Tony announced, "From this day forward, Stark Industries will no longer produce weapons."

Quill stepped back in surprise. "Well that was…unexpected."

"Yeah, you're tellin' me. And here I was thinkin' we could get some upgrades for the Milano II," Rocket remarked.

Quill waved a hand in response. "Nuh-uh, no way! We are going to put the Milano back together _exactly_ as she was before."

"Bah, you're no fun."

After a moment, the cellphone Quill kept in his pocket rang. He raised an eyebrow as he did not recognize the number. "'Ello?"

Coulson, on the other end of the call, said, "Well I've got some good news. Director Fury has agreed to your rather insane terms. In about eighteen hours a group of transports will show up to transport you, your ship, and anything you have packed and ready to go to your new home."

Quill sighed as he hung up the phone. "Okay guys, time to pack it up. S.H.I.E.L.D. is sending us a taxi."

"How can a taxi carry the Milano?" Drax asked.

"It's, it's a…oh nevermind. Just pack your stuff up in something."

Drax nodded in response.

* * *

Back at the Decepticon's base, Starscream clenched his fists as Baroness and her group stood in front of him. "You got the AI for the Nanomite rockets but failed to get the actual warheads?"

Baroness huffed lightly. "It seems that a team from the group called G.I. Joe managed to intercept the convoy and grab the warheads before we could get to them."

Starscream spit at her in derision. "You humans are useless." He then turned to Blackout. "What about Scorponok?"

"He is still hiding out in the desert," Blackout answered.

Starscream turned around to a five meter tall, silver robot with the grill of a Benz on his chest. "Soundwave, bridge Scorponok back to the Nemesis. Then, I have a mission for you."

In a deep, echoing voice, Soundwave replied, "Yes, Commander Starscream."

* * *

The VTOL Duke and the others were in began to slow down as it flew through the desert, before stopping midair as a circular door in the ground opened, allowing the VTOL to descend down a long, vertical tunnel.

Eventually, the craft landed on the ground and a door in the side of plane opened, allowing Duke, Ripcord, Heavy Duty, Scarlett, and Flint to exit.

As they did, Hawk and Cover Girl approached them.

"Good job Joes," Hawk commended as Heavy Duty, Scarlett, and Flint exited. "Welcome to the Pit, Duke," he remarked as Duke and Ripcord walked up to him. "I read a lot about you two."

Ripcord interjected uncomfortably, "Ah, well you can't believe everything you read. You see we-"

"I understand we even tried to recruit you a few years back," Hawk said, interrupting Ripcord.

"I never got asked to join any op group," Duke replied.

"Oh really? You don't remember Thailand about four years ago? Right before you broke up that bar."

Ripcord answered, "About four years ago my boy had issues. I mean his issues had issues."

Duke then added, "I have been in the military my entire life and I have never seen a spec operation like this."

"Alright, you trusted me so I guess I'll trust you," Hawk began, "Technically G.I. Joe does not exist. But if it did, it'd be comprised of the top men and women from the best military units in the world. The alpha dogs."

Hawk continued as the group descended on an elevator that passed through an aquatic training facility that was immense, housing enough space to test battleships and submarines.

As the elevator came to a stop, Hawk said, "When all else fails, we don't."

Duke and Ripcord looked around in awe as Hawk continued speaking.

"Ten nations signed on in our first year. Working together and sharing intel. Now we have twenty-three."

As the group stepped off the elevator, Duke and Ripcord watched as a young woman with long black hair, which was tied into a ponytail, and brown eyes wearing a grey and white, digital camouflage uniform, slipped a matching camouflage mask over her head and almost immediately became nearly invisible.

"What's that?" Ripcord asked as the young woman began fighting against several other soldiers.

"Camouflage suit," Heavy Duty responded.

"It photographs everything behind you and puts it in front of you," Scarlett explained.

* * *

Soon the group made their way into a dimly lit war room, the ambient lights from the many computer screens being the only light in the room.

"Mr. McCullen is standing by for you," a young woman said to Hawk as the group walked into the room.

Hawk replied, "Patch him through via TelePresence."

"So who hit us?" Duke asked.

"Currently unknown," Cover Girl responded.

Scarlett then added, "But one thing's for sure, she's got highly classified intel and state-of-the-art weaponry, which means there's a whole hell of a lot of money behind her."

"Their capabilities are far beyond most enemy forces."

"Most?" Duke asked.

"Allow me to explain later," Hawk added.

Ripcord then interjected, "Yeah, and that's the one and only reason we got our asses kicked out there."

"We need to find out everything we can about her. See if she's with them. Knowing is half the battle."

"Them?" Duke asked again.

"I'll explain later."

The group eventually collected around a circular table in the center with a holographic image of the Earth displayed on it. After a moment a holographic image of McCullen appeared in the center that then walked forward, walking through Ripcord, surprising and confusing the man.

Hawk then announced, "Gentleman, Mr. McCullen, CEO of M.A.R.S. Industries and the builder of these warheads." Hawk then pointed to a large case resting nearby with the symbol of M.A.R.S. Industries emblazoned on the side.

"Wait, so these warheads…they're the weaponry that programming was supposed to go into?" Duke asked.

"That is correct," McCullen answered. "An advanced programming that you men lost." He then turned to Hawk with a smirk. "General, clearly you're the security option I should have chosen."

"What did you just say?" Duke asked angrily, getting only a smug expression of disinterest from McCullen. "My team did everything we could out there, and a lot of good men and women went down."

"Yeah, but not you."

"That mission was classified. So clearly, someone sold us out."

"I spent ten years and thirteen billion euros developing those warheads, and specifically divided up the warheads and their programming as an extra precaution. You job, captain, was to protect their programming. And you failed."

Duke was about to lunge at the hologram but Ripcord held him back from such action.

"That's not a fair assessment," Hawk insisted. "Near as I can tell, he followed his orders to the letter."

"Well obviously, that wasn't enough. Now, so the bastards who attacked you can't find you and decide to come looking for the other part of my research, you need to disable the tracking beacon."

"Already taken care of," Scarlett responded.

Breaker nodded and added, "I gave her the necessary tools to do so."

"That's a good man, and woman," McCullen commend. "But allow to check them to see if any have been damaged."

Breaker narrowed his eyes in response and walked over to the case of warheads and placed it on the table. He pressed a button on his headset that allowed him to peer into the case, seeing four, RPG-like warheads filled with a glowing green material. He then turned to Hawk. "My scan says they're intact, sir."

McCullen then urged, "Open it please."

Hawk asked, "What's the code?"

McCullen turned to Breaker, mildly annoyed. "529440."

Breaker entered the code and opened the case.

Ripcord gasped silently as he saw the warheads.

"Merci," McCullen said as he walked up to Breaker.

Breaker stepped aside as McCullen extended his hands forward, causing several holographic screens to appear above the warheads which he then interacted with for several moments.

Duke watched him curiously.

After a moment McCullen turned to Hawk. "Please keep informed of your progress, General." His hologram then vanished.

"Breaker?" Scarlett said.

"My voice analyzer on that guy was going up, down, and sideways," Breaker replied.

"Looks like McCullen is working an angel he don't want us to know," Heavy Duty mentioned.

* * *

Inside of a submerged vehicle, McCullen, angry, shouted, "We're on a deadline! We need those warheads, now! And you knew that! Ten years setting this up. Ringing money out of NATO. This was supposed to be the easy part."

In front of him stood Baroness. "If you had let me stage the assault at your precious factory and didn't force me to work with these oversized androids I could have contained the situation."

"And lost the trust of our clients in the process! It had to be NATO's fault! But instead you let the Joes get the warheads!"

"Well if you hadn't split up the warheads and their programming like that I could have obtained them more easily."

McCullen sighed and then walked up to and through Baroness, as it was just a hologram, and walked towards a screen at the back of the sub.

"Have you tracked the case?"

"They of course deactivated the homing beacon. I gave them a code to quietly reactivate it."

Baroness smirked in response.

After a few moments the screen in front of them marked a location.

McCullen raised an eyebrow in response. "It's in the good ol' USA. Arizona to be exact." He then turned to Baroness and put a finger under chin, causing the image to glitch slightly.

"If I were actually there, I might let you touch me," Baroness teased.

"I'll send a jet."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, business before pleasure. Besides, I'm married. Remember?" The image of Baroness then vanished.

"If you had sent me in the first place," said a man with short black hair and brown eyes wearing an all-white outfit with two katanas on his back, holding a shuriken in his hand.

McCullen turned to the man and replied, "Yes, but I'm sending you now Storm Shadow. No more mistakes. The schedule mustn't be compromised any further."

Storm Shadow smirked before the hologram vanished.

As his hologram vanished, McCullen added, "Keep your eye on her for me."

As McCullen walked towards one of the submersible's windows, a man with buzzed, blonde hair and green eyes wearing a black dress shirt, black pants, and black loafers who had his feet on the table he was sitting at was reading a book. After a moment the man said, "American politics. Governors, senators, congressman. No wonder nothing ever gets done."

"That's what we're going to fix, Mr. Zartan."

Zartan smirked and then put his hands behind his head as he began to whistle a tune.

McCullen sighed and then sat down on a nearby seat as his submersible, along with multiple other submersibles, approached a massive underwater complex.

* * *

After entering the complex, McCullen entered a room with nineteen men in identical uniforms standing in a line in front of a box with a king cobra inside.

After a moment a man with chin-length black hair, green eyes, and rough skin with a rebreather that covered his nose and mouth as well as a large portion of his head and neck along with an all-black suit and a blue monocle walked into the room. "The king cobra. Nature's grim reaper. Built for a single purpose, unseen until it strikes. Its venom can kill a full grown elephant with a single bite."

"Very nice, Doctor," McCullen responded disinterestedly.

The Doctor turned and motioned to the men behind him. "So far we've created twenty Neo-Vipers. Nineteen stand before you."

"Is it working?"

"We injected one thousand CCs of the nanomite solution into each subject. When they finally stopped screaming, brain scans showed a complete inactivity in the self-preservation region of the cortex."

"English, Doctor?" McCullen asked, annoyed.

The Doctor raised the tablet he held in his hand and tapped on it several times. He then motioned as one of the Neo-Vipers stepped forward. "They feel no fear."

McCullen raised an eyebrow as the man walked towards the cage, opened the small, circular door, and stuck his arm in with the cobra.

"Cortical nerve clusters show complete inactivity," the Doctor explained as the cobra reared up and clamped its jaws down on the Neo-Viper's arm. "They feel no pain, concepts of morality are disengaged, they feel no regrets, no remorse."

The Neo-Viper stood up and pulled his arm out of the cage only to collapse to his knees.

The venom from the cobra's bite began to seep out of the man's arm as nanomites flowing through his blood stream removed the toxin. "The nanomites join together as a fighting mechanism, first blocking, then expelling the cobra's venom."

McCullen nodded and then asked, "And they're completely obedient?"

"Of course," the Doctor responded as he pressed a few more buttons, causing the Neo-Viper to step back into the line, before he closed the door to the cobra's cage. "The real world applications are endless. So, you tell me…is it working?"

McCullen smiled and then ordered, "Send a team to rendezvous with Storm Shadow and the Baroness."

"Consider it done. The Joes will never know what hit them."

As the two left the room the Neo-Vipers were presented with matching armor.

* * *

"The twentieth Neo-Viper is already set up in Washington D.C. and awaiting your signal," the Doctor explained as he and McCullen walked down a hallway.

"You've done well. You've thrown the caber clear out of the yard," McCullen responded happily.

"Construction of the presidential bunker has also been completed. Now, if we sold one warhead on the black market, I could continue my research-"

"I appreciate your thirst for knowledge, Doctor, but this world is messy enough. No, what it needs is unification, leadership. It has to be taken out of chaos by someone with complete control."

In front of the two, through a door, inside of a massive room, stood three, large, ballistic missiles.

"Beijing, Moscow, Washington. When these missiles detonate, the world will turn to the most powerful man on the planet." McCullen then turned to the Doctor. "When I'm finished, the money will take care of itself. You'll be able to do all the research you want."

* * *

Back in the Pit, Duke and the others stood in front of one of the large monitors as Breaker brought up an image of the Baroness. "We grabbed this image from one of our tactical cameras. Now we're running her face through an identity scan."

Ripcord leaned towards Duke and asked quietly, "Hey, isn't that-?"

"Shh," Duke hushed.

Cover Girl then explained, "We have access to any photograph on any server anywhere in the world."

"Yup," Breaker added. "Everyone gets photographed in some way at some time. Uhm, football game, ATM machine, airport…"

"We'll find her," Hawk said confidently. "Then we'll find out who sent her."

Cover Girl then handed a tablet to Hawk. "From NATO, sir."

"You okay?" Ripcord asked Duke quietly.

"What happened to her…?" Duke asked rhetorically.

Hawk turned to Duke as he read the message from NATO. "Hmm…well it appears I've been made official custodian of the warheads. Looks like your mission here is done, Duke."

"When you move'em, she's gonna come after you, you know that, right? And with her intel and toys, she'll find you."

Hawk furrowed his brow in thought. "What's your point?"

"If you're going after her first, we want in."

"General, it was our team that got wasted back there, we want payback," Ripcord added.

Hawk rebutted, "You don't ask to be part of G.I. Joe, you _get_ asked," and then walked away.

"You scouted me four years ago and now I'm ready. Let's have at it," Duke responded.

Hawk, annoyed, turned to Duke and Ripcord. "I've lost men too Captain, if you want revenge-"

"I know her," Duke interrupted.

"Excuse me?" Hawk replied in confusion.

Heavy Duty and the others turned to Duke in bewilderment as well.

"You said knowing's half the battle, right?" Duke asked as he pulled a photo from a pocket in his fatigues. "Well I know who she is," he said as he handed a photo of a blonde woman to Hawk. "She was a blonde, her name is Ana Lewis. I could tell you everything you need to know about her. Up until the last four years. Obviously, after that a lot of things have changed."

Hawk narrowed his eyes as he looked at Duke in thought.

* * *

In another location, on a road weaving through lush greenery on the outskirts of a city lit up by the night sky, a flashy, silver car drove towards a vast estate with a large, white mansion as the cornerstone. As the car pulled to a stop outside the front door of the mansion, a man with short brown hair wearing a black suit walked outside. With a smirk her remarked, "I believe my wife is home."

Baroness, or rather, Ana, stepped out of the vehicle as the driver side wing window opened toward the sky. "Hello Daniel, how did your meeting with the minister go?"

"He was thrilled, the accelerator performed flawlessly." As he approached Ana, the two shared a curt kiss on the lips before he added, "I wish you would have been there."

"You and your little lab rats are so clever," Ana remarked as she entered the mansion.

"How did it go in Monte Carlo?"

"I didn't get what I was after."

"I suppose I should be grateful," Daniel replied as he walked into the house with Ana.

"Most husbands would be," Ana remarked playfully.

"Most husbands don't have such mysterious wives. They know exactly where their wives are and they're doing."

"They think they know," Ana rebutted with mild annoyance.

"Ana, I don't want to fight, I missed you," Daniel said desperately.

"I never tire of a good fight," Ana responded as she took off a fur coat she was wearing.

However, she stopped as she approached a long hallway and saw Storm Shadow standing at the end near a window.

She immediately turned to Daniel and walked up to him, stopping him from walking further. "But not with you darling. Let me freshen up and I'll meet you downstairs."

"I do love you," Daniel added as he caressed her cheek and kissed her lightly, "my beautiful Baroness."

As Daniel walked out of the room, Ana turned around and saw Storm Shadow, wearing a white suit, standing behind her.

Storm Shadow smirked and mentioned, "McCullen gave me orders to kill the Baron if he so much as touched you."

Ana, exasperated, responded, "Oh he's my husband, so of course he touches me. Besides, his work at the lab goes better after we've 'touched', and that's the important thing. So, what are you doing, spying on me?"

Storm Shadow swiftly approached her and put a wakizashi against her throat. "If I was spying on you, you wouldn't even know I was here." He then reached up and grabbed her wrist as she swung a kunai towards his eye.

Ana smirked in amusement. "I'm getting closer."

"You were my best student." After Ana lowered her arm Storm Shadow added, "I'll be coming with your and our benefactors to retrieve the warheads. We go at dawn."

As Storm Shadow walked away, Ana turned and looked at a small black jewelry box which held a diamond ring inside.

* * *

Back at the Pit, Hawk stood in front of Flint, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and a tall, bald-headed, well-built man with brown eyes and a light tan wearing the armored G.I. Joe uniform.

"Roadblock, I'm adding you to this op as muscle," Hawk explained.

Roadblock nodded in understanding.

"Now, we have a confirmed sighting of an NBE being sheltered by a civilian. We also know that he is aware of its existence and is aiding it. What you and your team are to do is go in, apprehend and restrain the NBE, and take the civilian into custody along with anyone else that is aiding him. We need to try and do this quietly and swiftly. Do you understand your mission?"

"Yes, sir!" the group responded in unison.

"Then move out."

"Yo Joe!"

* * *

Back at Quill's house, after night had fallen, Quill sighed as he packed the last of his major items in the Milano II.

"How come we aren't using one of Terra's moving vehicles?" Rocket asked.

"You want them around as we're loading things?" Quill rebutted.

"Eh…good point."

"Peter!" Mikaela shouted as she walked into his house.

Quill entered the main area of the house to greet her, rather confused. "Mikaela, I told you, you didn't need to come in today?"

"It's, like, ten o'clock, so that's not it. What it _is_ about, is where all your stuff is."

Quill sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Ahh…remember those goons from S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"You mean the ones who sacked your house?"

"Yeah, them."

Mikaela thought for a moment and then gaped. "Nuh-uh, no way."

Quill shrugged in response.

"You're actually going to work for those psychos?! They tried to kill us both!"

"Hold on, hold on. I'm not just going to work with them for nothing. I struck a deal. A big one."

"What?" Mikaela asked incredulously.

"Well, first off, they're going to give us everything we need to repair the Milano. So that's good."

Mikaela sighed in frustration. "And what about me? If you leave, I don't have a job anymore."

"Actually, that was the second part of the deal."

Mikaela narrowed her eyes in thought.

"I also told them to clear your criminal record. Meaning that your record, which you only got because you wouldn't turn your dad in to the cops, is now wiped clean."

Mikaela gaped in shock. "Y-you're kidding…?!"

Quill shrugged with a smile. "Nope, I'm…" Quill trailed off as he looked around.

"What is-?"

Quill put up a finger and said, "Shh…" He pointed up and put a finger in front of his mouth before reaching for his rifles.

Rocket walked quietly into the room and asked quietly, "What's going on?"

Quill shook his head. "Not sure, grab your gun and tell the others."

Rocket nodded and ran off.

* * *

On the roof of Quill's house, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and several other soldiers walked quietly overhead, while down below Flint, Roadblock, and three more soldiers circled around the house towards the entrance.

Roadblock signaled ahead and one of the Joes moved in front of him, towards the large hole in the wall.

* * *

Quill looked around before he turned to Mikaela. "I guess it was noth-"

He stopped as Mikaela suddenly flinched before falling to the ground.

"Mikaela!" he shouted as he ran over to her, seeing a tranquilizer shot in her back.

The soldier that had shot her attempted to regroup with Roadblock and then others but Quill fired a shot from the bottom barrel of his rifle, hitting the man with a powerful electrical charge, incapacitating him.

"Shit, we have contact!" Roadblock shouted as he charged forward and began firing at Quill.

Quill swiftly knocked the nearby table on its side and pulled the unconscious Mikaela behind it with him.

The remaining two soldiers of Roadblock's group entered the house, only to get fired at by Quill.

One of the men was hit several times by the energy blasts, getting knocked down, though the other and Roadblock took cover behind the wall.

* * *

Upstairs, Rocket grabbed a large black rifle with three barrels and suddenly began firing erratically at the ceiling.

* * *

On the roof, the shots Rocket fired began tearing through the roofing, hitting one of the soldiers several times.

Three others rappelled down, smashing through the second story windows and into the structure.

Groot stood nearby and raised his arms which suddenly extended forward and slammed into the soldiers, knocking them through the wall as he shouted, "I…am…Groot!"

* * *

Snake Eyes entered through a window on the opposite side of the house and immediately jumped to the side as Drax charged at him. Snake Eyes retaliated by throwing several shuriken at the green-skinned alien.

Drax swung his daggers quickly, knocking the shuriken out of the air, before he charged at Snake Eyes.

Snake Eyes ducked to the side and began to swing his katana at Drax, but Drax kicked back and knocked Snake Eyes off balance long enough for Snake Eyes to body slam him through the door.

* * *

Scarlett descended into the house through a skylight in one of the back rooms and saw Gamora waiting for her, brandishing a dual-bladed sword.

Scarlett raised her crossbow, which released a loud shriek before she fired a bolt from it.

Gamora charged at Scarlett, knocking the bolt out of the air with her sword, and then swung horizontally at Scarlett, however the redhead bent backwards to evade the swing and then kicked at Gamora's abdomen.

Gamora planted her feet as she was sent back several feet only to lunge at Scarlett, knocking yet another bolt out of the air. Gamora swung repeatedly at Scarlett, however the skilled soldier managed to weave past each attack, jumped back, and fired another bolt that Gamora front-flipped over.

The bolt soared past Gamora and embedded itself in Groot's abdomen.

Groot looked at it curiously and then pulled it out. After a moment of thought he began to stick it in his mouth.

Rocket jumped up, slapped it out of Groot's hand, and chided, "Don't eat that!"

* * *

Quill stood up as Roadblock walked through the hole in the wall. "Okay…well you're big."

Roadblock took a wide swing at Quill, which the latter managed to duck before raising a foot and slamming it into Roadblock's abdomen as his foot rockets fired off, sending Roadblock crashing through the wall, back outside.

"Is he strong?" Flint asked.

"What do you think?" Roadblock groaned as he stood up.

Quill turned as he heard a shout from upstairs. "Gamora!"

* * *

Gamora continued trying to hit Scarlett, but the crossbow-user simply kept evading her before Scarlett kicked her in the abdomen, causing her to crash through the railing and fall to the first floor.

However, Gamora managed to land on her feet as Scarlett took aim. Gamora knocked the bolt away, causing it to hit the floor underneath Scarlett.

Scarlett looked around momentarily before the bolt exploded, causing her to also crash to the floor below. Unfortunately for the redhead, she was not as graceful in her fall as Gamora.

Gamora walked over to Scarlett and kicked her crossbow away before pointing her sword at Scarlett's throat. "Who are you?" she asked angrily.

Quill saw their fight and, excited, said, "Ooh, catfight."

Gamora looked at Quill irritated.

That one moment of distraction allowed Scarlett to kick Gamora's feet from under her and then kick her sword away.

"Dammit," Gamora cursed under her breath before kipping up and raising her fists. "If you want to do this the old-fashioned way, that works for me."

However, as Scarlett was about to attack Drax suddenly fell through the ceiling and landed on a dresser in the room below him.

"You okay buddy?" Quill asked.

Drax stood up, brushing some debris from his shoulder, and responded, "This silent one is more skilled than I expected."

At that moment the wall on one side of the living room burst apart as Bumblebee, still in vehicle mode, slammed through it and plowed into Roadblock, who was approaching Quill.

Roadblock slid several feet and then passed out.

"Let's go!" Bumblebee shouted as Quill grabbed the still unconscious Mikaela and jumped into the yellow Autobot's vehicle form before Bumblebee escaped by bursting another hole into the house.

Gamora kicked Scarlett through the nearby door, grabbed her sword, and ran out of the newly made doorway. She then turned and shouted, "Drax, let's go!"

Drax frowned as he looked up at Snake Eyes, who silently stared down through the hole in floor, before running out of the house as well.

Groot, with Rocket on his back, also bashed through the upstairs wall to escape the house and the pursuing group.

Gamora, Groot, and Rocket jumped into the back of the car, but Drax turned around and withdrew his blades.

"Come on big guy, let's get going!" Quill urged.

"There is no room for me, I will stay here and fight them," Drax replied.

"There's a bike in the garage, grab it!"

Drax nodded as Quill closed the door and the group drove off.

* * *

Back at the Pit, Heavy Duty stood across from Duke and Ripcord, both of whom were now wearing black, armored, G.I. Joe combat gear.

"You may have blackmailed your way into G.I. Joe," Heavy Duty began, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it. What it does mean, however, is I have to get you combat ready. Joe style."

In front of both Duke and Ripcord were large, black, armored suits.

"Standing in front of you are Delta Six Accelerator Suits."

"What's it accelerate?" Ripcord asked.

"You," Heavy Duty answered, getting an impressed nod from the new Joe, "It'll make you run faster, hit harder, and jump higher than any of your enemies. Let's suit up."

Heavy Duty then began helping Ripcord and Duke apply the armor, starting with feet and moving upward.

As he did, small, circular panels on each of the joints began spinning as the suits adjusted to Duke and Ripcord's bodies.

"Head-to-toe hydraulics," Heavy Duty continued explaining as he latched the different parts of the armor, "and highly pressurized pneumatics."

As Duke and Ripcord put on the helmets, complex, holographic Heads Up Displays became visible on the visors.

"You should see the advanced HUD on your visors now. It feeds into the suit. You think it, it does it."

As Heavy Duty continued, images of Scarlett began appearing in Ripcord's visor.

Duke elbowed Ripcord in the side lightly.

Heavy Duty then attached a large mechanism to the forearm of Duke's suit, with several rockets in the front. "Twin gas-propelled grappling spears, and triple-explosive, heat-seeking, fire-and-forget rockets. And my personal favorite…" Heavy Duty trailed off as he pulled a round gauntlet with multiple barrels on it, "Ten millimeter caseless Gatling submachine gun, capable of firing fifty rounds per second. Fully self-contained firepower. Perfect for a couple o' cowboys like you."

Ripcord gasped and then remarked, "I just missed everything you said." He then turned to Duke and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, how do I look? Pretty cool, huh?"

"Any questions?" Heavy Duty interjected.

Duke narrowed his eyes and then noticed a logo on the side of the left arm. "This is Stark tech, isn't it?"

"It is. And?"

"What about that weird little press announcement he had before?"

"We've had these weapons for three years, we're not going to give them up just because their inventor's gone soft. Any questions that aren't stupid?"

* * *

Drax knocked out the last of the soldiers in the garage before he saw the bike Quill was talking about, a sleek purple motorcycle. He looked around for the keys for several moments before finding them under a paint can and driving away on the motorcycle.

As Drax drove away to meet the others Scarlett saw the rest of their group unconscious.

Flint, Roadblock, and Snake Eyes walked up to her and saw the others as well.

"It looks like we have two NBEs," Scarlett explained.

The others nodded in understanding as Scarlett issued orders into the communicator on her wristwatch.

* * *

Inside Bumblebee, Mikaela began to slowly wake up.

"You alright?" Quill asked.

"Wh…what happened…?" she asked groggily.

"A bunch of guys from some group that's not S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up at the house and started shooting at us. You got hit but fortunately it was just a tranquilizer shot."

"If it's not S.H.I.E.L.D. then who is it?"

Quill shrugged and replied, annoyed, "I wish I knew, but whoever they were they were organized and knew what they were doing."

Groot then tapped Quill on the shoulder.

Quill turned around and saw Drax catching up to them on the motorcycle. He then turned back around and tapped the dashboard. "Hey Bee, Drax is catchin' up, we should find a place to hide for a little bit."

"That's not really an option," Bumblebee replied.

"What?" Mikaela asked, confused, "Why not?"

"Because those people are still after us, they've got some kind of aircraft flying in the air, cloaked, chasing us."

Quill looked up through the windshield. "I uh…don't see anything."

"They're cloaked."

"Oh, right."

Almost immediately a black helicopter flew out from behind a building and began firing rockets at the group.

As one exploded behind them, freezing what was caught in its radius, Quill shouted, "Oh what the hell!?"

Eventually Flint and Roadblock, now in Accelerator Suits, jumped out of the helicopter and landed in front of Quill's group.

"What the…!?" Quill shouted right before Roadblock fired a rocket at Bumblebee that burst open, forming a net.

Bumblebee immediately transformed into robot mode, dumping Quill and the others out as he did, and grabbed the net before tossing it aside.

Drax was flipped off the bike as it too transformed into a three meter tall, purple and black, feminine robot.

"Didn't think you liked fighting, Arcee," Bumblebee asked as his Plasma Cannon formed on his right arm.

"I don't, but I do what I have to," Arcee responded as her right arm transformed into a Photon Burst Rifle.

"So, you wanna fight, eh?" Roadblock remarked as he raised his right arm, the Gatling submachine gun spinning up, "Sounds like a party to me!"

As Bumblebee and Arcee were about to fight, Optimus said to them over long-range communication, "Arcee, Bumblebee, stand down. We don't harm humans."

"But sir-!" Arcee argued.

"That's an order. Try to get Peter and the others out of there but do not fire on those humans, our situation is already unstable enough. We don't need the deactivations of multiple humans on our manipulators."

Arcee tensed for a moment before she lowered her weapon. "Slag." She then turned to Bumblebee. "If we keep resisting, Quill and the others will get damaged."

Bumblebee nodded as his weapon also transformed back into an arm.

The two then raised their arms as the Joes encircled them.

"What are you doing?" Quill asked confused.

"If we keep fighting you all are going to get damaged, we don't want that," Bumblebee explained.

"I don't know what you people, and robots, are planning," Roadblock remarked as his weapon kept spinning, "but I'd advise against trying to run."

Quill clenched his fists and then sighed as he saw multiple VTOLs and helicopters circle around the group. "Son of a bitch."

* * *

Optimus sighed as he shut off the monitor showing the capture of Bumblebee and the others.

"Optimus, why are we just letting them get captured!?" Ironhide asked angrily.

"Our goal on this planet is to obtain the Allspark and keep it out of the manipulators of the Decepticons," Optimus responded. "It is not our goal to terminate humans."

"But they're going to experiment on and dissect Bumblebee and Arcee!"

"Then we must not let their sacrifice be in vain."

Ironhide clenched his fist angrily.

"If you ask me," Fury interjected as Natasha and Coulson walked beside him, "This is the perfect opportunity."

Optimus narrowed his eyes in thought. "For what…?"

"Those G.I. Jerks have been a thorn in my side for a while. We're over here tryin' to form an alliance with you guys, a friendship. And all they wanna do is kick you off the planet."

"And that's if they're feeling generous," Coulson added.

"I am sorry, Director Fury," Optimus answered, "But we did not come to your planet to interfere with human affairs."

"Well you just did," Fury said plainly. "G.I. Joe just captured two o' your 'Bots and are gonna take them apart to develop weapons. And then, they're probably gonna use those weapons on us. I think the United Nations was thinkin' the right ideas when they established G.I. Joe but those boys are way too gun happy. They make your boy Ironhide look like a pacifist."

"I don't like the sound of that," Hot Rod remarked.

Cliffjumper nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Ironhide shouted at the two.

"What are you suggesting, Director?" Optimus asked.

"I'm suggesting that we go knock on G.I. Joe's door and tell'em S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't like to be messed with," Fury answered.

Ironhide laughed happily. "Now we're talking!"

Optimus raised a hand to silence Ironhide. "Director, we agreed to share technology and intel with your group, we did not agree to help you fight against other groups of humans."

Ratchet then interrupted as a monitor he was looking at beeped. "Optimus, I've finished analyzing the glasses. I now know the location of the Allspark."

"Where is it?"

"A location known as the Hoover Dam."

Fury then smirked. "Well, well. Looks like it's time to go knocking."

Optimus looked at Fury perplexed.

* * *

Quill, Gamora, Groot, Rocket, Drax, and Mikaela all sat in a G.I. Joe VTOL, handcuffed, with Scarlett and Roadblock sitting across from them as they returned to the Pit.

Quill sighed as he bumped his head against the window in boredom. He then looked outside and furrowed his brow in confusion. "Hey, hey, wait a sec…I know this place."

"I'm sure you do," Scarlett replied.

* * *

Quill looked out the window as the VTOL group flew invisibly over the Hoover Dam towards the skyward-facing gate leading down into the Pit.

* * *

As the VTOL group landed in the large landing area, Quill watched as Arcee and Bumblebee, still held in large nets, were flown to a different location.

"Hey, hold on, where are you guys taking them?!" Quill demanded.

"That's none of your business," Roadblock responded as he turned Quill around and made him start walking.

"Well, well, well," Hawk remarked as he walked up to Quill's group. "So you're the ones who were sheltering NBEs."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Quill asked angrily.

"Non-Biological Entity." Hawk then turned to Roadblock and the others. "Take them to the interrogation rooms. I want to personally handle Mr. 'Star-Lord's' interrogation."

Quill sighed as Roadblock and several other soldiers led Quill's group down a series of hallways.

* * *

Duke noticed Quill's group, in handcuffs, and turned to a man with short black hair and blue eyes wearing the standard black and grey fatigues of G.I. Joe along with a black beret.

"Hey, what's all that about?" Duke asked.

"Something way above your paygrade," Stone answered.

"How about that thing in the antechamber? I've always wondered what that is."

Stone folded his arms and shrugged. "You've heard NBEs mentioned before, right?"

"Yeah…"

"That one is NBE-1, one of the very first we found. A lot of G.I. Joe's tech was reverse-engineered from the big guy. Now, how about you get back to getting your ass whooped?"

Duke sighed as he picked up an electrified baton once more and continued sparring with another soldier.

* * *

As Quill and the others were taken to the interrogation rooms, Quill stopped as they walked by a large window and saw a large, ten meter, humanoid robot inside of a massive, wide-open room, covered in thick ice with a constant stream of frigid coolant being blown onto it. "What the hell is that thing…?"

Roadblock grabbed Quill's shoulder and said, "None of your business," as he pulled him away from the window.

* * *

Quill sat in a small, metal room, his handcuffs latched to a thick metal bar on the underside of the table. He looked around and saw the multiple cameras in the corners of the room. ' _They really wanna capture every angle, huh._ '

After a moment the door opened and Hawk stepped in, carrying a file in his hand which he slapped onto the table.

"What's that supposed to be?" Quill asked.

"It's everything G.I. Joe has on you, Peter Jason 'Star-Lord' Quill," Hawk explained as he looked over the contents of the file. "To be honest, it's far less comprehensive than I'd like. You're twenty-nine years old, right, 'Star-Lord'?"

Quill shrugged. "Last time I checked."

"Then you care to explain why there's a twenty year gap in your file between 1988 and now?"

Quill smirked and replied, "That's really easy to explain. I was abducted by aliens."

Hawk narrowed his eyes as he looked at Quill. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"Oh come on, you've got a big ass Decepticon in your base, you know about the Transformers, _and_ you know that I'm friends with a walking tree, a talking raccoon, a blue-skinned brick shithouse, and a green hotty. I'd say the evidence is right there."

"What'd you say?"

"You really want me to repeat that?"

"No, you called NBE-1 a Decepticon. What's that supposed to mean?"

Quill froze for a moment and then smirked. "Give me a reason to tell you."

Hawk sighed. "Look, Mr. Quill, you are _not_ in a position to negotiate. It is in the best interests of you and your allies if you just tell us what you know."

"Oh really? And you couldn't have done that without sending the Navy SEALs to my house to try and blow me up?"

"We had to take every precaution."

"You know, you and those S.H.I.E.L.D. guys _really_ have a serious problem with barging into peoples' homes and breakin' shit!"

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "Did you say S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Yeah…"

Hawk sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Great…"

Quill narrowed his eyes for a moment and then asked, "You and S.H.I.E.L.D. don't get along, do you?"

* * *

In the desert area outside the dam, three people stood in a white van looking up at the sky.

"Darcy, can you hand me that?" a woman with long brown hair asked.

"Here ya go," a woman with wavy black hair answered as she handed a small device to the other woman.

"Jane, come on, we've been out here for over five hours," an older man with short grey hair answered.

Jane turned to him and argued, "Erik, I know what I saw. There were…things, I don't know what they were but there were objects flying in the sky that didn't look normal."

Darcy narrowed her eyes and said, "Hey uh, guys. Do moles normally travel in packs?"

"What are you talking about?" Jane asked in annoyance.

Darcy handed her a small tablet and Jane and Erik looked at it curiously as they noticed several objects moving under the ground below them.

They trembled as the ground below them shifted for several moments.

"Okay…well that was unusual…" Jane said in confusion.

* * *

A man walked on a catwalk at the edge of the Pit as he looked around. He stopped when small chunks of stone began to fall in front of him before the wall suddenly exploded as a massive drilling machine suddenly burst through the rock.

Then multiple other drilling machines, one of which was significantly larger than the others, burst through the wall.

Ana, Storm Shadow, Zartan, and several Neo-Vipers emerged from the drilling machines.

The largest one burst its top off as Soundwave jumped out.

Scorponok then emerged from the wall as well, landing on the ground below and crushing an armored car.

Soundwave stood up straight as panels in chest opened before he ordered, "Frenzy, Ravage, Laserbeak, deploy. Operation: Annihilation."

Almost immediately three smaller Decepticons emerged from the opening in his chest.

The first was Frenzy.

The second was a large, mechanical, cat-like Decepticon, Ravage.

The final was a large, falcon-like Decepticon, Laserbeak.

Frenzy split his arms and turned all four forearms into Scrapmakers, Ravage deployed two Scrapmakers from his back hips, and Laserbeak deployed two Scrapmakers on his shoulders. The three then rushed off into the Pit and started firing at anything that moved.

Zartan, Ana, and Storm Shadow made their way deeper into the dam, Storm Shadow slashing at a nearby wall, causing a soldier to fall to the ground, dead.

Zartan raised an eyebrow and walked over to the man, picked up his hat, and began whistling to himself.

* * *

As Hawk continued his interrogation of Quill, he heard a knock at the door.

"Don't go anywhere," Hawk remarked.

"Very funny," Quill deadpanned.

Hawk opened the door and saw Cover Girl standing with a tablet in her hand. "What is it?"

"I need you to sign something, sir," Cover Girl responded as she handed him a tablet.

Quill raised an eyebrow as he noticed a soldier walking up behind Cover Girl. He then widened his eyes as he saw the man reach into his pocket. "Look out!"

Cover Girl and Hawk turned as the soldier, who was Zartan in disguise, suddenly charged at them.

Cover Girl raised her tablet to block the dagger Zartan had and Hawk kicked him in the gut, sending him slamming into a wall.

Zartan smirked as he stood up and raised his fists.

Quill then slammed his arms down, snapping the metal bar his handcuffs were latched to, and then extended his arms outward, snapping the chains of the handcuffs, before hopping onto the table and leaping at Zartan, kicking him in the head and knocking him to the ground. He turned around with a smirk but frowned when he saw Hawk and Cover Girl looking at him surprised and confused. "What?"

"You just snapped a titanium bar before snapping a set of steel chains like they were made of plastic," Hawk explained incredulously.

Quill shrugged before wrenching the handcuffs off of his wrists. "Let's just say I'm a little bit enhanced. I'm also not one of the bad guys."

"Then how come you let us capture you like that?"

"I was curious. I wanted to see what you guys are. Just so you know, if you or any of your boys hurt my friends you're going to find out how strong I really am."

Hawk narrowed his eyes and then replied, "Don't worry, we don't normally use violent interrogation tactics. But it seems whoever we're fighting is well-equipped."

"Well if you want my help I want you to let my friends go."

"Done. Now come with me." Hawk then turned to Cover Girl. "Tell the others to let his friends free."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"That includes Arcee and Bumblebee," Quill explained.

Hawk sighed and then turned to Cover Girl.

Cover Girl nodded in understanding and ran off down the hall.

"Let's go. I need to sound the alarm, the activation switch is located in my office."

"Gimme my weapons and I can lead you there," Quill added.

Hawk narrowed his eyes but then began walking with Quill behind him.

* * *

Frenzy began scurrying through several air vents before he looked through a grate and saw NBE-1 in its frozen confinement. He then looked slightly to the side and saw an immense, metal cube with alien markings all over it. "A'lo veidt Megatron udt kxo Allspark!"

* * *

Soundwave, who had just thrown an armored jeep at a group soldiers smirked in response.

* * *

At the Decepticon base, Starscream stood near the large monitors when Soundwave reported, "Commander Starscream, the Cube has been located."

Starscream grinned and then bellowed, "We have found our prize! Decepticons, mobilize!"

Multiple Decepticons walked out from the shadows as Starscream activated a switch, causing a nearby gateway to open a large blue portal which the group ran through one by one.

* * *

Gamora sat, stone-faced, in front of a soldier when the door to the room opened as another soldier walked in.

"They're all to be released and given their belongings, Hawk's orders," the second soldier reported.

The first soldier nodded in understanding as he undid Gamora's cuffs.

* * *

Quill walked behind Hawk as they made their way down a hallway. "So, where we headed?" Quill asked.

"My office, it can sound the alarm for the entire base," Hawk explained.

Quill raised an eyebrow. "Really? The only alarm is in your office?"

Hawk glanced at Quill irritated. "This base was built in the thirties."

Quill nodded in understanding. "That explains it. Old people didn't think very well."

Hawk stopped and looked at Quill annoyed.

Quill raised his hands. "What'd I say?"

"Do you do anything but talk?"

Quill shrugged. "Well…there is one thing. But I've been told I'll go blind if I do it too much."

Hawk deigned not to respond and continued walking.

"Man, that guy _seriously_ needs to get a sense of humor."

* * *

Frenzy ran through the halls of the facility, firing at soldiers as he did, before finding a control room. "Soundwave, A'lo veidt kxo sedkhec heem!"

* * *

Soundwave turned as he heard Frenzy's announcement. He then smirked. "Begin."

* * *

Gamora ran down one of the hallways before she saw Groot and Rocket. "Where's Peter?!" she demanded.

"I dunno," Rocket responded.

Gamora narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, reel it in! I really don't know!"

Groot then interjected with, as usual, "I am Groot."

Rocket and Gamora looked at Groot, then at each other, and then nodded.

* * *

"What's all the shaking about?!" Ripcord shouted as he turned to another soldier.

"We're under at-!" the man responded before he collapsed.

Ripcord turned and saw Ravage.

Ravage growled at the man.

"Oh hell no!" Ripcord shouted before turning and running in the opposite direction as Ravage began firing the Scrapmakers on his back legs.

* * *

The door to Hawk's office opened as he and Quill, who now had his guns, walked into the room.

Hawk pressed a button on the back of his desk right before an alert sounded on his desk. "Report."

A voice on the other end replied, "General, someone is in the NBE-1 control room and is unthawing it!"

Hawk sighed in frustration. "Damn…"

"That doesn't sound good…" Quill interjected.

Hawk turned to Quill.

Quill put up his hands. "Hey, don't get pissed at me. Look, that cube thing. I think that's what these guys are probably after."

Hawk narrowed his eyes. "Do you know who's attacking us?"

"Well, if it's a bunch of giant alien robots then, yeah, probably. There's a group of bad robots called the Decepticons, or, something like that. They want that cube thing you've got. Oh, and I think your NBE-1 might be basically the demon king."

Hawk. "Do you know how to stop them?"

"Maybe. But my car and that bike chick, you gotta let them go so they can help us fight."

Hawk stood silently in thought. "We'll talk about it. For now we've got to stop whoever is thawing NBE-1."

"Glad we can finally agree on something."

"Don't get used to it."

Quill shrugged. "Why do I even bother?" he muttered.

* * *

Laserbeak flew over a group of soldiers before opening fire, gunning them all down. He chuckled in amusement. "These fleshlings are so stupid."

"Then how's this sound?" Duke asked as he stood nearby with a rocket launcher.

"What the-?!" Laserbeak shouted as one of the rockets flew and hit his wing.

"And stay down."

"Duke, Duke!" Ripcord shouted as he ran over to him. "Duke, we've got a problem! We're-!" Ripcord stopped as he saw Laserbeak hobbling away. "D-did you do that?"

"Yeah. Come on, I think there are more of these things in here. We've got to stop'em," Duke answered.

Ripcord raised an eyebrow. "I don't know how the hell you're still so calm."

"Neither do I. Let's go before it wears off."

"Got it."

* * *

Inside the main chamber of the Pit, several soldiers turned as the Neo-Vipers approached them and started firing.

As Ana walked through the area she turned to Storm Shadow. "I'll find the warheads, why don't you help our plated friends get the Joes' attention?"

Storm Shadow turned silently and threw several shuriken which hit two soldiers in the forehead.

* * *

Quill and Hawk were making their way to where Bumblebee and Arcee were being held when they crossed paths with Gamora, Groot, and Rocket.

"Peter!" Gamora called out.

"Gamora!" Quill replied. "Where's Drax?"

"I don't know, he wasn't with us when we-"

The two stopped when a Neo-Viper slammed into a wall.

"Found him," the two said in unison.

As they predicted, Drax rounded the corner. "Where have you been?"

"Trying to stop whoever sent those things," Quill answered.

"Then we need to fight."

"Not right now. Right now we need to released Bumblebee and Arcee."

"You do that, then. I'll fight."

Quill shrugged and turned to Gamora.

"Let's go," she urged.

"Yeah.

* * *

Soundwave walked through one of the more open areas, with soldiers lying on the ground around him, when he turned to the side. "So, have you arrived?"

* * *

Outside, a brown jet along with a blue jet soared towards the Hoover Dam.

The first jet flipped and transformed, actually being Starscream, before landing on one of the hills above the dam.

The blue jet transformed into a robot that looked similar to Starscream.

"We're near this...Hoover Dam, but I don't see the Allspark," Starscream remarked.

"It is inside," Soundwave replied.

"Got it…" Starscream then turned to the other robot. "Thundercracker, break that dam open!"

Thundercracker nodded before his right arm turned into a Null Ray. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Soon more Decepticons walked up to where Starscream and Thundercracker were.

"Decepticons, dig up the Cube!" Starscream ordered.

Blackout jumped into the air and turned into a blue helicopter before flying forward along with Thundercracker.

* * *

Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Hawk walked into a large room where Bumblebee and Arcee were being held to large platforms and had frozen air being sprayed at them.

"That's enough, stop!" Hawk ordered.

As the sprayers ceased, Arcee and Bumblebee slowly stood up.

Bumblebee shook his head angrily, his arm transforming into a Plasma Cannon.

"Bee, Bee! They're not the enemy, anymore at least," Quill interjected.

"What do you mean?" Bumblebee asked confused.

"Those Decepticon guys are here and they're wrecking shit. And that Cube thing you guys want, it's here too. We've got to get it before those Decepticon things do."

Bumblebee remained silent for a moment and then nodded. He then turned to Arcee, who was busy brushing some frost off of her shoulder.

Arcee nodded before the two stood up.

"Lead the way," Bumblebee said.

Quill nodded.

"Can you believe we're doing this?" Cover Girl asked.

"No, I can't," Hawk replied.

* * *

Quill and the others swiftly made their way towards the main chamber of the Pit.

However, as they arrived, Soundwave stood in front of them.

"I knew you would come, Autobot," Soundwave remarked.

Bumblebee nodded slightly, causing a mask to fall over his face. "Then you know what's coming if you get in my way, Soundwave."

"Foolish Autobot."

Arcee raised a hand in front of Bumblebee. "You get the Cube, I'll take care of him."

"I cannot permit you to do that, Autobot," Soundwave remarked as his Electro Bolter formed from his hand. "I shall terminate you both."

"Not today, Decepticon!" Arcee shouted as her forearm transformed into a Photon Burst Rifle before she fired several shots at Soundwave.

Soundwave rolled to the side, avoiding the shots, before he fired multiple shots from his own weapon.

"Bumblebee, go!"

Bumblebee began to run past Soundwave, however the latter tried to stop him.

As Soundwave charged at Bumblebee, Arcee tackled him.

Soundwave growled as the two of them smashed through several vehicles, sparks and chunks of metal flying through the air.

Soundwave attempted to stand back up to retaliate but Arcee swept her leg to the side, causing the silvery Decepticon to fall to the ground, hard.

* * *

As the group walked up to the massive cube, Quill turned to Bumblebee and said, "Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!"

"I… don't really know what I'm _supposed_ to do," Bumblebee replied in consternation.

"Well then just do what I do!"

"Which is what?!"

"Poke it until something happens!"

Bumblebee raised a mechanical eyebrow before shrugging in response. "It's better than nothing." Taking Quill's advice, Bumblebee poked the giant cube, causing energy to start sparking through it.

At that same moment, Duke and Ripcord entered the area, seeing Bumblebee reach out to the Cube.

"Hey Duke… should we stop him…?" Ripcord asked.

"You want to try?" Duke rebutted.

"Not really…"

"There's your answer."

As the energy sparked through the Cube, sections of it began to move and shift, it shrinking down to a significantly smaller size.

Hawk and Cover Girl entered the area at that same moment.

"Sir, you mind tellin' me what the hell's going on?" Duke asked.

"We're under attack and that Camaro is one of the friendlies," Hawk explained succinctly.

Duke remained silent for a moment then raised an eyebrow. "I'd be lying if I said that was the weirdest thing I've seen today."

As the cube finished shrinking, Soundwave managed to throw Arcee off of him. "Give me the Allspark!" Soundwave demanded before charging at the yellow Autobot.

Bumblebee turned in surprise as Soundwave charged at him. The Allspark fell out of his grasp as Soundwave tackled him to the ground.

"Oh shit!" Quill cursed as he dove to catch the Allspark, stopping it from hitting the ground. "We should go now!"

However, at that moment the lights momentarily went dark before a loud growl shook the air.

Quill and the others turned as the ice around NBE-1 shattered and fell to the ground, his two-toed, treaded feet sending sparks flying as they impacted the floor, gears in his chest spinning as he took in a deep, raspy breath. He pulled several long cables off of his head as his eyes lit up bright red. "I… am… Megatron!"

* * *

 **And cut! That wraps up this chapter of Guardians of Earth, I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did, or even if you did not, or if you are simply curious or confused about something, be sure to leave a review. I will do my best to address any questions you provide. Well that is all I have to say here, so buh-bye!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

 **Greetings and salutations to all. I know it has been a significant while since I have updated this story, or any of my stories really, and there are a... myriad of reasons behind that. Most of which I would prefer not to unload on here. So I offer my sincerest apologies for the wait, for whatever it may be worth. That aside, I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter of Guardians of Earth, though I would not be able to tell if you did, and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well. As usual, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for his continuing help with this project and my many others. So with no reviews to respond to we might as well get into the meat of the matter, hm?**

* * *

Quill and the others turned as the ice around NBE-1 shattered and fell to the ground, his two-toed, treaded feet sending sparks flying as they impacted the floor, gears in his chest spinning as he took in a deep, raspy breath. He pulled several long cables off of his head as his eyes lit up bright red. "I… am… Megatron!"

"… That's not good…" Quill muttered.

Megatron growled as his right arm transformed into a Fusion Cannon and began charging it.

"So very not good! Run! Now!" Quill shouted as he and the others fled the spot before Megatron fired his Fusion Cannon, filling the area with a huge explosive ball of fire. "Holy shit! The Deathbot has a Fusion Cannon!"

"Where are we supposed to go now!?" Gamora asked frantically as she ran with the others.

"Mission City," Duke began, "it's not far from here. If we leave now we can get there in thirty minutes."

Quill nodded in agreement. "And then we can give this Cube thing to the Autobots or S.H.I.E.L.D. or whatever."

"I'll see about gettin' us some real weapons!" Rocket exclaimed.

"This way!" Breaker interjected as he ran up to the raccoon. "G.I. Joe's armory has things you've never seen before."

As the two ran off, Duke turned and watched as Soundwave, Megatron, and the others continued shooting throughout the base, destroying anything that moved. "What about the Pit?"

"It's lost," Hawk answered somberly. "The Pit's gone."

"You guys have a radio here, right?" Quill asked. "I should be able to use it to contact S.H.I.E.L.D. and –"

"I've already radioed Optimus and the others," Bumblebee interjected. "They're Bridging to our position as we speak."

"Great to know!" Quill answered excitedly.

"Then let's bounce on outta here before those killer bots decide to smoke us!" Ripcord added.

"Way ahead o' ya!" Quill answered as he, Gamora, Rocket, Mikaela, and Groot got into Bumblebee as Drax hopped on Arcee.

"Where's our cool transformin' ride?"

"The VTOLs still work," Scarlett interjected. "We can use them to get out of here."

"I fly!" Ripcord announced before running to the hangar.

"Rip!" Duke called before sighing and chasing after him with Scarlett.

* * *

Megatron continued shooting before transforming into a wide jet mode and flew out of the dam before swiftly transforming back and landing on the ground as Starscream and Thundercracker landed next to him. "Starscream! Where is the Cube?"

Starscream flinched slightly. "L – Lord Megatron! The humans have taken it!"

Megatron growled deeply with anger. "You fail me yet again, Starscream…" Megatron muttered with frustration. "Get them!" he ordered shortly.

"Y – Yes, Lord Megatron!" Starscream answered fearfully before turning to Thundercracker. "Let's go, Thundercracker!"

"Right!"

The two returned to their jet forms and then flew off.

Megatron growled in frustration before transforming into a hefty tank and rolling away.

* * *

Quill sat in Bumblebee with the others, a convoy of G.I. Joe jeeps surrounding them, as he looked around. "Okay, so where and when will the Autobots –?"

Quill's question was interrupted as a Landbridge portal opened ahead of the group from which Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, Cliffjumper, Hot Rod, and Jazz emerged.

"Oh…" he muttered in mild confusion and surprise.

"Optimus!" Arcee called as she drove up to the others. "We have the Allspark! We need to take it and get out of here, fast!"

"Then we must get it secured," Optimus ordered as the others joined him. "And if we cannot accomplish that, then we must destroy it."

"You can't be serious!" Ironhide interjected. "The entire history of our race and the secrets to producing Energon are in there!"

"Less talk, more run!" Quill urged, leaning his head out of Bumblebee's window.

At that moment, Megatron emerged over the nearby hill in his tank mode, transformed, rolled, and landed on one of G.I. Joe's jeeps.

"Ah shit! It's Megadeathbot!"

Optimus swiftly stood and stood between Megatron and the others. Turning to the group he ordered, "Go! I will hold Megatron back!"

"You heard the big guy!" Quill shouted before the others started driving away.

"My Cube!" Megatron shouted as they ran away and began to chase after them.

Optimus ran at Megatron, clotheslining the silver Decepticon and slamming him to the ground.

Megatron growled and stood back up, kicking the remains of the jeep he crushed out of his way. "Prime… get out of my way. I'll deal with you after I get my Allspark!"

Optimus shook his head slightly, a faceplate covering his mouth, before a large sword formed on his left arm before glowing bright orange. "Never, Megatron!"

"Then I'll make you!" Megatron retorted as a similar blade formed on his left arm. He then charged and swung at Optimus, who deftly ducked under the strike before turning and kicking at Megatron's back, knocking him to the ground.

"It seems you are not quite balanced yet, Megatron," Optimus remarked sarcastically.

Megatron snarled and slashed at Optimus.

Optimus dashed to the side, causing Megatron to stumble forward, before equipping his Ion Blaster and shooting repeatedly at Megatron's back before charging and kicking him into the nearby river. "This is the end, Megatron." Optimus pulled out a grenade and then threw it at Megatron before transforming and driving away.

* * *

Inside the destroyed remnants of the dam, Storm Shadow looked around in thought, holding the case of the warheads. "Now what?"

"The humans have taken the Allspark to a city nearby," Starscream explained.

With a smirk, Ana suggested, "Why don't we test these beauties there?"

At that moment, Megatron hobbled into the dam, holding his severed left arm. "I like the way you think, fleshling." He then turned and shouted, "Soundwave! Get over here!"

As Soundwave walked up to Megatron, Starscream narrowed his eyes before his left hand turned into a circular sawblade. "Now then…" In one swift motion, Starscream lunged at Megatron, only for the Decepticon leader to turn and hit Starscream with his severed arm, knocking him to the ground.

"I think we can all agree that we saw that coming," Ana remarked.

Megatron growled in exasperation. "Even in my current state I won't be brought down by you, Starscream. Now, go and leave before my amusement with you runs out."

"Y – Yes, Lord Megatron," Starscream muttered fearfully before turning and flying away. ' _Next time, Megatron…_ '

Soundwave walked up to Megatron as he sat down and handed the smaller Decepticon his severed arm.

Zartan walked up to Megatron as well and looked him over curiously. "So you're the famed Decepticon leader. I thought you'd be… bigger."

Megatron huffed in annoyance as Soundwave reattached his arm. "And you are…?"

"You can call me Zartan, man of many faces."

Ana approached the duo and interjected, "Getting into the city isn't going to be easy with a giant robot hanging around."

Megatron huffed in annoyance before looking around and seeing a large, green, armored semi nearby. A light shot from his eyes and panned over the vehicle before parts of his body began moving and shifting before he became an exact replica of the truck.

"This shall make it far too easy," Megatron remarked in his new form.

"We need to arm the warheads before we can use them," Ana added.

Soundwave reached over her and grabbed the case holding the warheads from her. "Warheads now activating," he muttered as a light passed from his eyes over the case. After a moment he returned the case. "The warheads are now ready for firing."

Ana looked at him mildly annoyed. "Right…" She then opened the door to Megatron's vehicle mode and threw the case and entered, along with Storm Shadow, before the group made their way out of the wrecked base.

* * *

Quill looked at the Cube curiously.

"Hey, kid!" Rocket shouted over the com from another vehicle. "When we stop off in Mission City, come see me. I borrowed some of the Joes' stuff."

"Nice job!" Quill responded excitedly before frowning in thought. "Hey, Rocket, think ya can download anything from the Allspark?"

"I can certainly give it a shot."

"We got incoming!" Duke shouted over the coms as the Decepticons approached from behind and overhead.

A beige APC Decepticon suddenly rushed ahead of the others before morphing into a seven and a half meter tall, humanoid robot with a large claw on its back with wheels on its feet that used the wheels to speed ahead towards Quill and the others.

"Oh that's not good…" Quill muttered in disbelief. "Someone shoot his tires!"

At that moment, Optimus transformed and jumped down from a higher roadway and tackled the beige robot. "You're through, Bonecrusher!"

"I'll terminate you now!" Bonecrusher shouted angrily before turning his right arm into a Scatter Blaster and firing at Optimus.

Optimus rolled under the shots, kipped up, and then cupped his fists together and slammed them into Bonecrusher's chest, sending the crazed Decepticon over the side of the roadway, only for Bonecrusher's third arm on his back to reach up and grab Optimus, pulling him down as well.

"Haha!" Drax shouted excitedly. "Yes! Show them your might my friend!"

Simmons blinked in surprise before sighing and turning to Duke. "That guy is nuts."

Drax turned to him in confusion. "How am I a hard seed?"

Simmons gaped slightly in disbelief.

Rocket tapped his shoulder. "It's best if you just ignore him."

"Ah…" Simmons sighed heavily. "If my niece knew about this she'd have a fit."

* * *

Optimus stood up as Bonecrusher remained latched to his arm. Optimus growled and equipped his heat sword before slicing at Bonecrusher's third arm, lopping it off. Throwing it to the side he snarled, "Annoying pest."

Bonecrusher growled angrily. "I hate you!" He then fired his Neutron Assault Rifle repeatedly, Optimus picking up a large chunk of concrete to block the shots before throwing the chunk of rock at Bonecrusher, knocking him down. Bonecrusher stood back up with a snarl only to receive Optimus' fist to his face, colliding hard enough to knock one of his optics' out of his head. "Grah! Damn Autobot!"

Optimus lunged forward with his blade, lodging it in Bonecrusher's right shoulder, before pulling hard, ripping Bonecrusher's arm clean out.

Bonecrusher howled in pain before sending a punch at Optimus.

The Autobot leader caught punch, ducked behind Bonecrusher, pulling the Decepticon's arm behind him in a tight hold, and then placed his Ion Blaster behind Bonecrusher's head and fired multiple times, blowing the Decepticon's head off, before dropping the body next to him. "Who's next?"

* * *

Quill looked ahead as their convoy reached the edge of a large city. "Please tell me those skyscrapers are Mission City."

"Those skyscrapers are Mission City," Mikaela answered.

Quill turned to her perplexed. "Uh, thanks…"

Scarlett then spoke over the radio, "We're entering Mission City now. I certainly hope your S.H.I.E.L.D. friends are ready to take this thing and get us out of this situation."

"You're not the only one, Red."

* * *

The group came to a stop just within the city limits of Mission City as Heavy Duty exited his jeep and turned to Duke and the others. "Duke, Ripcord, mount up!"

"I've been waitin' for this part!" Ripcord exclaimed excitedly as he and Duke entered the Accelerator Suits.

Quill watched in disbelief. "… I want one."

Roadblock stood and looked towards the others. "If those… things, are coming, we're going to need every weapon we've got. I managed to cram as many weapons as I could in this truck. Take your pick and get ready for a fight."

Rocket picked up a minigun with a smirk. "I'll take this one."

"I am Groot," the tree man stated.

"Someone else can take the rocket launcher," Rocket replied.

Ironhide then stood and looked at the group mildly annoyed. "I don't care what weapons you all pick, just do it fast! They're coming!"

"Got any plasma?" Quill asked as he looked at the stack of weapons.

Scarlett grabbed a large rifle and handed it to Quill. "It's unstable, so it might kill you just as much as it might kill them."

Quill grinned as he gripped the weapon. "Sweet!"

"Oh no ya don't!" Rocket interjected. "Don't you dare! Remember the _last_ time ya got a plasma weapon!?"

"Aw, come on. I've matured. A little."

"You destroyed a building."

"It was condemned."

"We were all still in it!"

Ironhide stomped his foot on the ground, getting everyone's attention. "Enough bickering!"

Ratchet turned to the side and then shouted, "They're here!"

"Okay! All suited up and ready to fire!" Quill answered excitedly as he turned and saw Starscream and Thundercracker flying towards the group, launching missiles. "Oh crap!"

Scarlett immediately grabbed her crossbow and fired at the incoming missiles, taking them right out of the air.

Quill raised the plasma rifle up and fired a shot that flew randomly before hitting Thundercracker's thruster.

Thundercracker snarled in pain before transforming midair and slamming into the ground ungracefully and sliding along the pavement, taking with him several cars.

Quill looked at the rifle lovingly. "I will call you Veronica."

Starscream then transformed midair and took aim at the group before something slammed into him, causing him to tumble before slamming into the ground, the object itself landing on one of the jeeps.

"What the scrap!?" Starscream snarled as he stood.

Quill ran over to the jeep as a man in bright silver, humanoid, robotic armor stood up.

"Well… that hurt…" the man inside, Tony Stark, said with a shake of his head.

"Uuhh… who's this guy?" Quill asked curiously.

"Long story." Tony then looked around in confusion as he saw the Cybertronians fighting. "So, uh, what's with the giant robots?"

"Long story," Quill bit back sarcastically.

"Ha, very funny."

Scarlett then walked up to Tony, annoyed. "Mr. Stark, what are you doing here and –?"

Starscream slammed his fists down as he stood, shaking the area.

"Aahh, sahddap!" Quill groaned as he fired a shot at Starscream's face.

"Gah!" Starscream growled in pain. "Why you little…!" His right arm turned into a Scrapmaker which he started firing at the group, sending a storm of shots their way.

"Oh shit!" Quill shouted before grabbing Scarlett and diving to the side, out of the gunfire.

"What are you doing?" Scarlett asked, perplexed.

"Rip!" Duke shouted, Ripcord nodding in understanding before the two used their armor to pick up a nearby car and throw it at Starscream.

Starscream hissed and caught the car before Quill fired at the car's tank, causing it to explode.

Bumblebee instantly jumped up at Starscream to attack but was tackled by Barricade.

"Oh crap," Quill muttered. "Gotta go help Bee!"

Blackout flew over the area before landing on a skyscraper's roof and readying his Electro Bolter.

"Oh we are so dead…" Duke lamented.

"Why?" Tony asked?

"That's the thing that attacked us!" Ripcord shouted as Blackout started firing.

"Scatter!" Hawk ordered before the group splintered.

Tony flew up, away from the barrage, with a groan. "I chose a bad day to test the Mk-II."

Thundercracker jumped up and swatted Tony out of the sky, causing him to crash into a small shop below.

"Uurrgghh… a very… _very_ bad day…" Tony then stood and started firing his suit's weapons at Thundercracker.

Thundercracker sneered in derision, unaffected by the shots. "Tch, stupid Minicon."

Ratchet stood and started firing his Neutron Assault Rifle at Thundercracker, his weapon showing great effect on the large Deception.

Ironhide immediately ran ahead and tackled Blackout to the ground, knocking them both into a building.

Rocket, meanwhile, was laughing like a maniac as he stood on Groot's shoulders, shooting at anything that moved.

* * *

Barricade fired his Neutron Assault Rifle at Bumblebee, the latter ducking behind a building to avoid the shots.

Quill ran over, took aim, and then fired, hitting Barricade between the legs.

Barricade howled loudly before turning to Quill angrily.

"That's for trashing my car!" Quill snarled before firing a shot at Barricade's face. "And that's for chasing me!"

Barricade grumbled and turned to fire at Quill but was tackled by Bumblebee from behind. He growled in an attempt to get up but Quill hit him with a shot to the chest.

* * *

"Hot Rod!" Cliffjumper shouted before the duo leapt up and latched onto Starscream's sides.

"Oh just great," Starscream snarled in annoyance. "Get off me!" He turned and jumped, trying to shake the smaller Autobots off him before grabbing Hot Rod and throwing him off at a wall before grabbing Cliffjumper by the face. "Irritating pest!" He threw Cliffjumper to the ground and then stomped on him, crushing the red robot's legs. "Now terminate, Autobot!"

However, before Starscream could accomplish his intent, Tony flew in and grabbed on to Starscream's cheek, firing at the Decepticon's eye.

"Gah! Why you…!"

Hot Rod stood up to face Starscream but flinched when a nearby car exploded and turned to see a large green tank rolling towards him. "Combaticons! It's Brawl!"

Ironhide fired a shot from his Magma Frag Launcher at Blackout and turned with a growl. "Oh come on!"

Ripcord looked around in confusion. "What's a Combaticon?"

"They're tougher than Driller excrement!" Hot Rod exclaimed as he began firing his Photon Burst Rifle at Brawl.

Jazz drove swiftly towards Brawl before transforming and jumping atop the tank, firing his Scrapmaker at him. "Come on and fight, Deceptipunk!"

Brawl growled and transformed with Jazz on him before grabbing the small Autobot and throwing him at Hot Rod. "Pathetic Autobug."

Duke then ran towards Brawl, firing his wrist-mounted gatling gun at Brawl.

Brawl turned disinterestedly, the shots bouncing off harmlessly. "Toothless gnat." He raised his Scrapmaker and opened fire on Duke, only for Ripcord to run up behind Brawl, jump onto a car before hitting a wall and bouncing off, landing on Brawl's back. "What the…!? Get off!"

Ripcord shook his fist to load one of the wrist-mounted rockets and fired it at Brawl's shoulder mounted rocket launcher.

Jazz readied his Thermo Rocket Launcher and fired two shots that exploded violently at Brawl.

"Gragh!" Brawl snarled in pain before returning fire to Jazz.

* * *

Tony flew up swiftly and slammed into Starscream's face, knocking the large robot back slightly.

Hot Rod then fired at Starscream's knees, causing him to kneel to the ground.

* * *

Ana and Storm Shadow ran up a long set of stairs, two cases in hand.

* * *

Down below, on the streets, Soundwave turned his attention from them to Barricade as Bumblebee threw him at a shipping truck. "Autobots inferior," Soundwave droned as he readied his Electro Bolter, "Decepticons superior." He then fired several shots at Bumblebee, sending the yellow Autobot flying.

Scarlett looked up from Soundwave's shots and saw Storm Shadow and Ana in the building nearby. "It's her! They have the warheads!"

"I'm on it!" Quill shouted before preparing to pursue them, only for Duke to grab his wrist tightly. "Hey, what gives?" Quill asked, turning to him.

"That woman," Duke began. "Her name's Ana. She's an old friend of mine. I don't know why she's working with these jokers, but don't hurt her."

"Me? Hurt a pretty lady. Not a snowball's chance in hell."

Duke remained silent for a moment before letting Quill's arm go and nodding. "If you do, I'll kill you."

"Got it," Quill answered before firing off his rocket boots and flying up to where the two thieves were.

* * *

Ana and Storm Shadow ran towards another set of stairs when Quill burst in through a window, blocking their path. "Hheelllloo!" With a smirk, he added, "Now that's an entrance."

Ana pulled out a pistol and fired at him, sending a blast of energy towards him.

Quill easily dodged the shot. "Well that's not very nice. Someone needs to teach you some manners. Especially when you meet a guy as sexy as me."

Ana handed the warheads to Storm Shadow and turned to Quill, annoyed. "Go. I'll handle this fool."

"Hey!" Quill interjected as Storm Shadow ran away. "I'm not an idiot, Li'l Annie."

Ana stiffened as her eyes widened. "What did you… call me…?"

"Li'l Annie. It's a nickname. Now, prepare to get stopped by the Star Lord."

Ana raised her fists and narrowed her eyes. "I have no intention of losing to you."

* * *

Elsewhere, Gamora and Mikaela, the latter of whom held the Allspark, ran into an alleyway as the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons raged nearby.

"When this is all over, I swear I'm going to kill him," Gamora muttered angrily.

"Well what do we do now?" Mikaela asked, frantic.

"Wait for those S.H.I.E.L.D. people I suppose," Gamora answered with frustration tinting her words. "Until then we have to keep that cube away from the Decepticons."

Mikaela sighed in annoyance. "Oh sure, so we got the 'easy' job."

Gamora looked around and then raised a hand. "Shush." She inched towards the corner of the wall and peeked around, seeing several Neo-Vipers walking with Megatron in the center of them, in his vehicle mode.

"What do we do?" Mikaela whispered to Gamora.

Gamora turned and answered, also in a whisper, "Just be quiet. Hopefully they won't see us."

Mikaela merely shot her an incredulous look before Megatron, and the Neo-Vipers, suddenly stopped moving.

"We better go…" Mikaela suggested.

"A veidt kxom!" Frenzy shouted, standing behind the two.

"Shit," Gamora deadpanned. "Run!"

Megatron transformed, stood, and pointed at the duo. "Get them! Get my Allspark!"

Mikaela and Gamora ran, the Neo-Vipers in pursuit, as Megatron smashed through the buildings to get to them.

"We need back up!" Gamora shouted as they exited the alleyway, Megatron and the Neo-Vipers in pursuit.

Megatron jumped and dove to capture the two women, only for Optimus to emerge from another alley and tackle Megatron to the ground, crushing two of the Neo-Vipers in the process.

"About time…" Mikaela muttered in relief.

Optimus then threw Megatron at a nearby building and turned to Mikaela and Gamora. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is on its way with a group of helicopters. They will arrive in thirty Earth minutes to take you and the Allspark to our base. Keep it safe until then."

"Got it!" Mikaela answered before Megatron stood with a growl.

"I won't let you take the Cube from me again, Prime!" Megatron challenged as he readied his Fusion Cannon. "I've waited five hundred Cycles for this and I won't let you stop me!" Megatron raised his cannon to fire.

"The Allspark is not yours to take!" Optimus shouted as he tackled Megatron, causing his blast to shoot off at a random building nearby.

Gamora turned to Mikaela. "The Decepticons are all busy fighting. We need to run while they're occupied."

* * *

Quill jumped to the side, dodging another shot from Ana's pistol before swinging a punch at her that Ana easily ducked under, retaliating with a punch of her own that Quill caught.

Ana tried to wrench her arm free of his grasp unsuccessfully. "Let. Go," she demanded coldly.

"How about no?" he retorted before slamming his head into hers.

Ana groaned in pain before frowning angrily. "Ow," she remarked bluntly.

"Huh. You got a hard head there, don't ya, Annie?"

Ana narrowed her eyes bitterly. "Stop calling me that." She then kicked at his abdomen to no effect.

Quill winced lightly but was unmoved. "Nice kick. Those are some legs ya got, Annie."

"I said don't call me that, Pete!" she shouted before knocking him in the face.

Quill winced slightly from the hit, mostly from surprise. "Huh? How do you… know my name…?"

"What…?"

Quill narrowed his eyes in thought. "My name. It's Peter Quill. How do you…? Wait… Ana… Ana Lewis. Rex Lewis' little sister…"

Ana stiffened in shock.

"Well… fuck. It _is_ you, Li'l Annie."

Ana walked away from Quill slowly, in complete disbelief. "No… that's impossible. You… you died. Over twenty years ago!"

"Oh yeah… that's probably what people thought." Quill ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Man. I _really_ should have taken up planetary navigation after getting abducted."

Ana then raised her gun at Quill, her face twisted with confusion, uncertainty, and anger.

Quill immediately grabbed the gun and twisted her arm, knocking the gun out of her hand and allowing him to pin her to the ground before destroying the gun. "You really need to –!" his words were cut short when an electric pulse shot through his body, sending him flying. "Oohh… that was painful…" With a groan he sat up and watched as Ana's skin pulsed lightly. "Oh don't tell me…" Quill sighed heavily as he stood up. "Guess this only leaves one option." With Ana charging, Quill instantly pulled one of his custom guns from its holster and fired the lower barrel at her, sending a powerful electric charge through her system. "Okay, that should've fried the little bastards." He then picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder. "Now, to get you out of here."

The building then shook violently.

"Well, time to go!"

* * *

On the roof of the building, Storm Shadow looked around at the various battles going on below him as he loaded one of the warheads into a launcher. He then looked nearby and watched as Jazz fought with Brawl, eventually cutting off one of the Decepticon's hands. "Guess I have my first target," Storm Shadow remarked as he raised the launcher to fire.

* * *

Jazz jumped up and punched Brawl in the face multiple times. "Decepticon punk!"

Brawl growled and grabbed Jazz before throwing him to the ground.

Jazz widened his eyes as Brawl raised his foot to stomp, rolling to the side to avoid the hit. Jazz stood with a confident smirk. "Ha! Can't get m –!" Jazz was interrupted as something hit his back and exploded. "What th – ggyyaarrgghh!" Jazz bellow in pain as a cloud of green mist formed on his back and began eating at his body, dissolving it.

Ratchet turned to Jazz in horror. "Jazz! No!" Ratchet began to run to help Jazz but was grabbed by Thundercracker who threw the green Autobot into the air at the same time Blackout threw Ironhide, causing the two to crash into each other midair.

Jazz fell to the ground, pieces of his body falling off as the cloud devoured him.

Brawl walked silently towards Jazz, raising his Scatter Blaster, before firing at Jazz, blasting his decaying body to pieces.

"No!" Ironhide shouted with agony.

* * *

Storm Shadow smirked before ducking as a sword slashed nearby. He turned around to see Snake Eyes behind him. "So you're still alive."

Snake Eyes lowered himself into a stance to fight Storm Shadow.

Storm Shadow narrowed his eyes and drew his swords. "I've waited a long time for this.

* * *

Quill jumped from a lower window of the building and landed on the ground below right as Mikaela and Gamora ran past.

"Huh… well that was quick," Quill remarked.

Gamora saw the unconscious Ana in his arms and narrowed her eyes. "… Do I even want to know?"

Quill swiftly spat out, "Childhood Earth friend controlled by now-fried Nanites."

Gamora stood silent for a moment. "… That's a far simpler explanation than I was anticipating."

"Right? Okay, any idea how long until S.H.I.E.L.D. gets here to unload that alien Rubik's Cube?"

"It should only be a few more minutes."

"'Bout damn time."

Suddenly, Duke came flying from seemingly nowhere and slammed into a nearby wall. "Ooww… that hurt…"

Brawl walked over towards the alleyway, ready to fire on Duke, before seeing Mikaela with the Allspark. Brawl immediately opened his mouth to speak, only for Quill to fire the plasma rifle at his face, hitting him in the mouth. "Eat that, asshole!"

Brawl roared in pain as he stumbled back.

"We've got incoming!" Flint shouted as he pointed ahead to several S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters flying into the city.

"Oh that is a _great_ sight!" Quill shouted.

As the helicopters approached, Blackout growled and kicked Ironhide away before transforming and flying after them.

Quill hissed and raised the plasma rifle and fired, hitting Blackout's tail rotor.

Blackout growled in pain and transformed midair, aimed his Electro Bolter at one of the helicopters and fired, shooting it down before slamming into a building and falling to the ground.

"Damn," Tony cursed in disbelief, his armor heavily damaged, "these things just don't die."

"You're telling me," Quill remarked. After a moment of thought he then turned to Gamora and handed the unconscious Ana to her. "Look, get her to safety with S.H.I.E.L.D. too. I'm going to stay here and help bring these bastards down."

"Why? This isn't your planet," Gamora retorted.

"Yeah, I know. It's not the rock I live on, but this place is still my home. And no way in hell am I letting these things trash it!" He then turned to Mikaela. "Give me the Cube."

Mikaela looked at him puzzled. "Shouldn't we give it to S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"That's what the 'Cons are expecting."

"Then what do you plan on doing?"

Quill sighed heavily. "That part… I haven't exactly figured out yet. But whatever it is, it's gonna be awesome. Because it usually is." He then glanced to the side and noticed Jazz's rotting body nearby. "… I liked that guy." Narrowing his eyes in thought, he asked, "Wait… what killed him?"

"Some rocket fired by that guy in white," Gamora explained.

Quill narrowed his eyes further in thought and then turned to Mikaela. "Give me the Cube. I just came up with an idea, and I'm going to need that thing."

Mikaela nodded, slightly puzzled, and handed the Allspark to him.

"Now get going. And take Duke with you."

Mikaela remained silent for a moment and then picked up Ana and turned to Gamora. "You're stronger than I am."

* * *

Storm Shadow rolled back as Snake Eyes slashed at him multiple times.

Snake Eyes slashed at Storm Shadow once more, though the white-clad man blocked and lashed out with a kick.

Snake Eyes stumbled back just as Quill leapt onto the roof of the building with the aid of his rocket boots.

As he landed, Quill looked at the two curiously. "Uuhh… am I interrupting something?"

Storm Shadow instantly reacted by throwing two shuriken at Quill.

Quill blocked with his arm, the shuriken bouncing off. "Hey! No throwing pointy objects!" He then rushed forward, grabbed one of the warheads and the launcher before flying up into the air. "Later!"

"Did he just…?" Storm Shadow asked in disbelief as Quill flew away.

Snake Eyes nodded silently.

Storm Shadow growled and then pointed at Snake Eyes. "This is your fault."

Snake Eyes shrugged in response.

* * *

Optimus picked up a car and threw it towards Megatron.

Megatron batted the car away before firing at Optimus.

Optimus bent back to avoid the shot before returning fire at Megatron as he ran towards the Decepticon leader.

Megatron charged as well, the two colliding, Optimus throwing a powerful punch that sent Megatron tumbling, before adding a backhanded punch to the attack as well, knocking Megatron down.

Megatron curled his legs up and then slammed his feet against Optimus' torso, knocking him to the ground before standing to continue his assault.

Optimus got to his knees and clasped his fists together tightly, swung back, and then slammed his two fists into Megatron's chest, sending him tumbling to the ground. He then grabbed Megatron by the shoulders and slammed his head against Megatron's. "It is time to end this foolish war, Megatron. It has gone on for far too long."

Megatron growled as he stumbled to his feet. "On that… we can agree, Optimus." Megatron immediately equipped his Fusion Cannon and fired at Optimus, pointblank, sending the Autobot leader flying against the wall of a building down the street. Megatron began walking towards Optimus, wiping chunks of concrete off his shoulder. "Why do you fight so hard to protect these creatures, Prime?" he asked before callously flicking a human away with his toe.

Optimus stood next to the building with a groan. "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. And I will do whatever it takes to defend that right from anyone!"

"They don't deserve to live!" Megatron challenged as he fired again.

Optimus picked up a nearby car and threw it at Megatron's shot, the car taking the explosion as he charged. "They deserve to choose for themselves!"

Megatron knelt down, rammed into Optimus' midsection, and then hoisted Optimus up over himself and slammed him down behind him. "Then you will terminate with them!"

Optimus stood with a groan and punched Megatron in the abdomen, causing him to stumble.

Megatron then transformed both of his arms into Fusion Cannons and aimed them at Optimus. "Join them in extinction!"

Optimus was sent flying as Megatron fired both cannons.

* * *

Tony watched the battle from above before turning as Hot Rod jumped off from Starscream's head and fired at the large Decepticon several times before landing on a nearby rooftop.

Hot Rod turned to Tony and urged, "I've got this guy! Go help Optimus!"

Tony nodded in understanding. "Right! … Which one is he?"

"The blue one!" Hot Rod shouted before leaping over Starscream's fist and latching onto his arm and firing repeatedly before switching to his Scattershot and firing a single powerful shot, severing Starscream's arm.

* * *

Megatron aimed his Fusion Cannon at the grounded Optimus with a smirk. "It is time to end this, Prime."

"You're damn right it is!" a voice shouted.

Megatron turned to the side when Tony dove in and slammed into his head, knocking Megatron off balance and causing Tony to crash on the ground below.

"Ow…" Tony grumbled. "That hurt a lot more than I expected… I am not going to do that again any time soon. Though, knowing me, I probably will."

Megatron turned to Tony and glared virulently.

"That's probably not good…"

Optimus then fired one more shot at Megatron before looking at his gun with a sigh. "Scrap. Out of ammo."

"You aren't the only one, Prime," Megatron growled as he stood and stowed his Fusion Cannon in favor of a sword. "But even without guns I will rip out your spark!"

Optimus equipped his own blades and stood as well. "At the end of this solar cycle, one shall stand, one shall fall."

"Yes, and that shall be you!" Megatron rebutted before charging, swinging his blade at Optimus.

Optimus ducked his swing lunged with his blade.

Megatron punched Optimus' sword away from him and then elbowed him in the face before kicking him in the abdomen and grabbing him by the collar. "No it is time to go offline, Prime!" Megatron raised his sword high to stab Optimus.

"Hey! Over here, ugly!" Quill shouted as he landed on a short rooftop with his rocket boots. He then held up the Allspark. "This what you're looking for?"

"My Allspark!"

"No!" Optimus shouted as Megatron made his way to Quill. "No, Peter, don't!"

Quill smirked and dropped the Allspark before raising the RPG launcher. "Smile, bitch!" The missile fired from the launcher and flew towards Megatron.

Megatron raised a hand to block the missile, causing it to explode on him and disperse a green cloud that began swiftly devouring his arm. Megatron howled in pain from the cloud's eating. "Nnoo! I won't… allow this…!" He raised his other arm, sword ready.

"Oh he can't be serious," Quill muttered.

Megatron then swung his blade and severed his left arm and tossed it aside, preventing the cloud from devouring the rest of his body and turned to Quill with a weak smirk. "Game over."

Optimus immediately hopped up, grabbed onto Megatron from behind, punched him in the face, and knocked him to the ground before running over to Quill. "Listen, Peter, we cannot allow Megatron to obtain the Allspark. It would mean disaster for us all. Our only choice at this point is to destroy it. Shove the Cube into my chest, where it will merge with my spark and destroy both myself and it."

Quill narrowed his eyes in thought. "Good idea but I've got a twist of my own to make it awesome."

"Give me my Cube!" Megatron demanded as he stood up and charged.

Quill picked up the Allspark and fired his rocket boots, jumping over to Megatron and landing on the Decepticon leader. "You want it!?" Quill raised the Allspark up and then slammed it down into Megatron's chest. "You got it biyatch!"

Megatron stumbled, growled, and convulsed as the Allspark fused with his body, melting his chest and deforming his body before exploding violently, knocking him to the ground and sending Quill flying.

Quill groaned as he sat up slowly. "That… was rreeaallllyy painful… Bad idea. Like when I grabbed that purple rock…"

Mikaela and Gamora both called to Quill as they ran over to him.

Quill waved weakly as he stood up. "Hey… I'm relatively okay…"

"Yeah, but we've got another problem," Mikaela interjected.

"… What is it now…?"

Mikaela pointed nearby and Quill watched as the green cloud devoured a building, causing it to collapse under its own weight.

"What the hell…?"

"Oh that is not good…" Tony added.

"What is it?" Gamora asked in confusion.

"Nanites," Scarlett explained as she walked up with the other Joes. "Microscopic machines developed by M.A.R.S. Industries. You've seen what they can do. And if we don't stop them they're going to devour the entire city."

Quill remained silent for a moment before turning to her. "Okay, where's the kill switch?"

"That's simple," Tony began. "The kill switch is in the case the warheads were in."

Quill sighed heavily. "Great… meaning it's where the two ninjas are duking it out."

"Wait… ninjas are real?"

"That's not the situation anymore," Scarlett interjected. "Snake Eyes just informed me that Storm Shadow's making his escape with the case."

"Dammit!" Quill cursed in frustration.

Tony folded his arms in thought. "Anyone got an EMP?"

Quill held up his double-barreled pistol. "It's a small-scale one but it does the job."

"We can't let Storm Shadow escape," Scarlett interrupted. "That case has at least two more warheads."

"Meaning someone has to go and shut down the Nanites while someone else goes after the warheads."

"I'll deal with the Nanites," Tony added. "I made their programming so I know how to stop them."

Quill nodded. "Right. Then I'll go after the remaining warheads." Quill then tossed one of his dual-barreled pistols to Tony. "These're my babies, so take good care of it." He then held up the plasma rifle. "If you don't, you'll answer to Veronica."

"Quit perving on guns and go!" Mikaela urged.

"I am _not_ perving, woman!"

"I am Groot," Groot remarked as Rocket sat on his shoulder.

"Yeah, get yer ass moving!" Rocket demanded!

"Yeah, yeah!" Quill retorted before firing off his rocket boots and flying off.

Tony looked down at Rocket in thought. "So, uh… talking raccoon, huh?"

Rocket hissed in annoyance. "Very funny."

* * *

Quill looked around as he flew over the city. "Okay… Whitey should be… there!" Seeing Storm Shadow, he shot down to the rooftop the white-clad man was on and dropped down right behind him. "Banzai!"

Storm Shadow turned as Quill hit the ground and narrowed his eyes.

Quill pointed the plasma rifle at Storm Shadow with a smirk. "Sorry there pajama man, but I can't let you leave with that case."

Storm Shadow huffed in irritation. "I have no time to play with you."

Blackout landed on the rooftop the two were on and slammed his fist down, the shock wave sending Quill tumbling away, before he grabbed Storm Shadow and transformed as he flew away.

Quill landed on a nearby rooftop with a groan as they flew away. "Oh no ya don't!" he shouted before launching a cable that flew and latched on to Blackout, the speed of the Decepticon pulling Quill off his feet suddenly.

* * *

Storm Shadow turned as Quill landed in Blackout's cargo bay and swung his sword at the intruder.

Quill bent back under the swing and then punched Storm Shadow in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. "Take that!"

However, before Quill could continue his assault, a Neo-Viper hit Quill with an electric charge, causing Quill to tremble and shiver before hitting the ground.

"Crap…" Quill muttered in frustration. "Really should have splurged for the EMP shielding but nnoo… I had to upgrade my ship…"

Storm Shadow walked over to Quill and wiped blood from his lip before sneering. "Take a nap," he taunted before kicking Quill in the face, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

Tony sighed heavily as he looked at the devastation around him, the inactive Nanomites surrounding him. "Damn… about time… That took a lot longer than I expected."

Gamora looked around in concern. "I don't like this."

"What's wrong?" Mikaela asked.

"Peter's taking too long."

"Indeed he is," Drax added.

Groot nodded in agreement. "I am Groot."

Rocket turned to him in thought. "Ya sure? Wait… what am I thinking? Of course he'd end up getting captured."

"Then we need to go and rescue him," Duke suggested as he pulled off his damaged helmet.

"Why?" Heavy Duty argued. "He's not one of us."

"He helped us put an end to all this," Scarlett explained.

The others turned as the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters landed and the Decepticons flew away.

"We may have dealt with Megatron, but the other Decepticons escaped," Optimus lamented.

"Yes, and we lost Jazz in the battle as well," Ironhide said with a heavy tone as he held what remained of Jazz.

Optimus clenched his fists angrily. "I will avenge him and end this for good."

"Not yet," Coulson interjected as he stepped out of the helicopter. "Before we do any of that we should make a quick stop."

Drax turned to him puzzled. "But… we are not moving."

Coulson raised an eyebrow and turned to Gamora. "… Is he always like that?"

"Yeah," Rocket answered.

"And where might that stop of yours be?" Hawk asked.

"At S.H.I.E.L.D.'s home," a dark-skinned, bald-headed man with a scar over his left eye, mostly covered by an eyepatch, wearing a black, zip-down shirt, black leather coat, black leather pants, and black boots answered as he walked out. "The Triskelion."

Hawk narrowed his eyes. "Nicholas J. Fury. And here I thought you were a dead man."

Fury smirked in amusement. "I'm never leaving your peripheral, Abernathy."

Hawk huffed in amusement mixed with derision. "Great. More good news."

Groot turned to Mikaela curiously. "I am Groot."

"No clue," she answered.

* * *

In one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters, Rocket looked at Coulson and asked, "So… what are we getting exactly?"

Coulson looked at Fury in thought.

Fury nodded.

"A special project S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been working on for about fifteen years now," Coulson explained.

"Fifteen years?" Scarlett asked in surprise.

Coulson nodded as the helicopters landed.

"Let's go," Fury ordered as everyone exited the helicopters. "Coulson, continue."

Coulson nodded. "A little over fifty years ago, in the year 1954, a creature emerged from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan and attacked the city of Tokyo. It laid waste to the city, killing hundreds. The contemporary weaponry of the time, guns, tanks, jets, missiles, all of it, was completely useless. The monster didn't even seem to notice. All of their attacks simply bounced off. After accomplishing whatever it seemed to need, it left the city and returned to the ocean, never to be seen again."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rocket interjected. "There's creatures like that on Terra?!"

Coulson nodded in return. "Yes. A massive, reptilian creature exceeding one hundred meters in height. The Japanese named it after an old fisherman legend about a sea beast that devours sailors who sin."

"What do you call it?" Scarlett asked.

"Godzilla," Coulson answered. "This happened only a few years after S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founding, so it began its first major mission, build weapons strong enough to take Godzilla down should it, or anything like it, ever appear again."

"Did you?" Duke asked.

"We had no luck at first making anything that could take the heat," Fury interceded. "That is, until 1984."

"What was so special about that year?" Gamora questioned.

"That was the year S.H.I.E.L.D. made contact with the Autobots. I say made contact, but I'd say more like they crashed into our base."

"Get this little tale moving," Hawk urged.

Fury frowned. "You have no sense of atmosphere."

"Thanks to the Autobots' intervention and their technological developments," Coulson continued, "we developed newer and more powerful weapons. Weapons big enough and strong enough to fight those monsters. Monsters we have coined as 'Kaiju'. We call those machines Jaegers." Coulson pointed to a large window nearby as the group stopped.

The others looked through the window and saw multiple, massive, humanoid machines all more than seventy meters tall.

"Cherno Alpha, Romeo Blue, Tacit Ronin, Crimson Typhoon, Gipsy Danger, and the Jaeger Program's crown jewel, Striker Eureka."

"We are not letting Peter anywhere near those things," Gamora remarked.

"Agreed," Mikaela added bluntly.

Fury then motioned to the side. "This is the head of the Jaeger Program, Marshal Stacker Pentecost."

Pentecost, a tall, dark-skinned man with buzzed, dark brown hair, and brown eyes wearing a grey three-piece suit with a blue tie, white shirt, and black shoes, walked up to the group.

Two young men with short blonde hair and blue eyes stood behind Pentecost, all three saluting to Fury.

Drax looked at the group curiously. "Why are there two of the same man?"

"We're brothers," the taller of the two explained. "Name's Yancey Becket." Yancey then tapped his brother on the shoulder lightly. "This half-dead fool is my little brother, Raleigh."

"Very funny old man," Raleigh jabbed with a smirk.

"We're the pilots of Gipsy Danger," Yancey continued, ignoring Raleigh's jab. He then pointed to the large, blue Jaeger with a tall collar and yellow visor. "She's that blue beauty over there."

Drax raised an eyebrow in confusion. "How do you pilot a beauty?"

"I…" looking to Mikaela he asked, "is he okay?"

"He's from a race that knows no concept of metaphor," Rocket explained.

"Ah… did a raccoon just talk?"

Rocket huffed in annoyance.

Yancey then looked at Coulson and asked, "Why is the Director here?"

"The Jaeger Program has its first true mission," Fury explained.

"'Bout time!" Raleigh answered excitedly.

"An important asset has been captured by the Decepticons and their associates. I'm sending a team to get him out of there, but they're going to need some extra firepower in taking down the evil bots. So, in addition to the Autobots, the newly added Joes, and our existing team, I am authorizing the deployment of Gipsy Danger for this mission."

"Hell yeah!"

Yancey grinned. "Let's go kick some ass, Bro."

Raleigh bumped fists with his brother, excited.

Groot turned to Rocket worried. "I am Groot."

"Yeah…" Rocket muttered. "It's like two more Quills."

Pentecost swiftly turned to the Beckets. "Alright, you heard the man! Gipsy Danger, suit up for deployment!"

* * *

Quill groaned hazily before realizing he was in a small, metal prison cell with an energy wall blocking the exit. "Jeez… that hurt…"

"Finally decided to join the realm of the living, hm?" McCullen asked as he sat on a chair next to Quill.

Quill groaned as he turned and realized he was chained to the wall. "Don't blame me. It's Pajamas' fault. Also… who the hell are you?"

McCullen stood up confidently, with rage tinting his expression. "My name is James McCullen, the head of Military Armaments Research Syndicate Industries." McCullen then picked up a baton and pressed a button, causing electricity to course through it. "And the man from whom you stole." Ending his sentence curtly McCullen then swung the baton and hit Quill hard in the face.

"Ow…" Quill groaned. "Sorry 'bout that McDonald, it was just one li'l missile."

McCullen hit him once more with the baton. "It's McCullen. And I'm not referring to the missile." Hitting Quill one more time, he explained, "My Baroness."

Quill coughed and spat blood before looking at McCullen with a smirk. "And who might that be McGinnis?"

McCullen hit him again and answered, "Ana Lewis. My second in command and most prized soldier. I'm quite put out that you took her from my company." He then raised his hand to strike Quill again but the Doctor grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"That's quite enough, director," the Doctor warned with his raspy voice.

McCullen huffed in annoyance and pulled his arm free from the Doctor and put the baton down.

"I'll handle the interrogation from here."

"So be it," McCullen answered with annoyance.

"Good," Quill interrupted, "McFinnegan's punches were getting kinda dull."

McCullen turned to look at the Doctor who merely motioned to Quill. McCullen walked up to Quill and kicked him hard in the abdomen before walking out.

Quill groaned in pain.

The Doctor walked towards Quill and grabbed a chair before sitting in front of him and pulling out a clipboard. "Peter Jason Quill. It seems we both have experience with death, hm?"

Quill looked at the Doctor with confusion and pain. "Do I… know you…?"

"Yes. Well, you used to. You probably don't recognize me anymore. But when you did know me, you knew me as Ana's brother."

Quill furrowed his brow in confusion before widening his eyes. "… Rex…?"

Rex smirked under his mask and patted Quill on the head patronizingly. "Smart boy."

Quill looked him over in thought. "… The hell happened to you?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just got betrayed by Duke and nearly blown up in an American airstrike. He just left me there to die."

Quill frowned incredulously. "Somehow I doubt that."

Ignoring Quill's remark, Rex stood and continued his speech. "So, taking Ana away from Duke, I implanted her with Nanomites so I could erase all memory of my 'death' and Duke's betrayal, so she didn't need to suffer with it anymore. But now, thanks to you, all of those memories are likely to come flooding back."

Quill huffed in derision. "You really became a dick while I was gone."

Rex narrowed his eyes. "Time changes us all, Peter. And you needn't worry, I plan to make Duke suffer just as much as I have. That aside, you being here is actually quite advantageous."

"Uh… how…?"

"Simple. By dissecting you I can study your cybernetics and use them to enhance my Neo-Vipers even further than they are now. Of course, I need you to be alive and conscious so I can see how they work."

Quill gulped. "I kinda like not being in pain if you don't mind."

"And I like being able to breathe without needing a respirator. But we can't all have what we want, can we?"

The room then began to shake slightly.

"Do I even want to know?" Quill asked as he looked around.

* * *

 **And there you have it, the third chapter of Guardians of Earth. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it, be sure to leave a review if you did. If you did not, feel free to leave a review though unless you have suggestions or specific points to make I would recommend you spend your time on endeavors you actually enjoy. If you are, as well, confused by anything in the chapter or have any questions regarding anything in the story I would be glad to answer them to the best of my ability, limited as I am by the public nature of reviewer responses. So until next time, buhbye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

 **Hello and greetings to all! It is time for yet another chapter of Guardians of Earth. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, though I cannot say for most of you. That being said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well as the previous, be sure to post a review if you did or if you were confused or unsure on anything. As usual, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all his help in writing this story. As few as there may be, why not start the reviewer responses now?**

 **Bakuto Masaki: Yeah, I do too.**

 **Well... that was short. Guess it is time to move on to the main event then.**

* * *

Blackout growled with rage as he threw Starscream against a wall in the underground base used by the Decepticons.

Starscream groaned as he stood up before glaring at Blackout. "What was that for!?"

"Why did you abandon Lord Megatron to rot!?" Blackout demanded as he pinned Starscream to the wall.

"He was already deactivated and the Nanomites the humans unleashed were everywhere! Not to mention the Autobots were still there!"

Blackout tightened his grip with a glare. "You didn't need to leave his body!"

Soundwave walked up to the group and pushed them apart. "There was nothing to save Lord Megatron."

"What…?" Blackout asked angrily.

"That human destroyed the Allspark too!" Thundercracker added. "What are we supposed to do now!?"

"I will take command, naturally," Starscream answered.

Barricade folded his arms in disbelief. "Again? That turned out so well last time."

"Quiet, fool!" Starscream growled.

"Gah!" Brawl growled as Soundwave returned to work on his hand. "Be careful you lug!"

"Reattaching limbs is not a painless process," Soundwave answered.

Brawl growled angrily.

"What is the meaning of all this noise!?" Rex demanded as he walked into the room.

"Minor disagreements amongst our compatriots," Zartan explained.

"I see…" Rex then turned to Starscream. "Keep them under control. I'm doing very delicate work back here. Besides, we're about to have company."

"What do you mean?" McCullen asked as he dried his hand.

Rex turned to him with a huff. "Do you really think the Joes and S.H.I.E.L.D. would just let us capture Quill so easily? No. They're coming. I'm sure of it. And we need to be ready."

* * *

Rex walked into an operating room as two Neo-Vipers strapped Quill to an operating table.

Quill attempted to break the straps with a grunt. "Uh, hey, think you can loosen them a bit? Kinda tight."

"Oh don't worry," Rex remarked. "Soon the straps will be the least of your concerns." Rex then grabbed a microscope on his desk and shook it lightly.

"Uuhh…"

Parts of the microscope shifted before turning into a small, insectoid robot with an oversized head. "Do _not_ shake me like zhat again, stupid human!" the robot demanded.

"Then don't sleep on the job, Scalpel," Rex retorted.

Scalpel snarled.

"Now, we have an important operation to perform." Setting Scalpel on Quill's chest, Rex explained, "This man is full of augmentations and various other secrets. So I'd like to open him up and study them thoroughly."

Quill gulped slightly. "Um, think maybe we can do this another time?"

Scalpel snapped his fingers, causing too small flying robots to fly into the room carrying a tray of tools.

"I'll take that as a no…"

* * *

Drax looked out the window of the cargo plane at Gipsy Danger being suspended by cables with several other helicopters. "That is a large machine.

Groot nodded. "I am Groot."

"Tell me again why we're risking our lives for someone who was previously against us," Flint requested.

"Because he saved my ass for one," Hawk explained. "For another we still need to retrieve those warheads so that the Decepticons can't do whatever it is they're planning with them. And we owe him for helping us save the USA. If not for him the NBEs might have won."

"The murdering and rampaging ones you mean," Ripcord added.

"There doesn't seem to be much difference if you ask me," Flint remarked.

Ripcord groaned. "I mean the ones that would love to step on us. Not the ones that do their best to avoid stepping on us."

Roadblock tapped Ripcord's shoulder. "Try not to let his temperament get to you. His brother was killed by some of those Decepticon things."

"Oh…"

"We're nearing the Decepticons' arctic base," Hawk interjected. "Everyone ready up for a drop."

"How come we're flying in instead of using the Autobots' teleporter thing?" Duke asked.

"The Decepticons can track its signal," Cliffjumper, in vehicle mode, explained. "We have at least some chance at a surprise attack this way."

"Oh… wait, the arctic?" Ripcord asked in surprise.

"Our operating time is limited," Optimus began.

Ratchet then spoke through the comms to the group, "You have about twelve millicycles before your systems start freezing."

"Just great…" Bumblebee moaned. "Anybody got antifreeze?'

"Very funny," Ironhide groaned. "Let's drop!"

* * *

Outside, the helicopters holding up Gipsy Danger released their cables, causing it to drop to the ground with heavy thud.

Inside the cockpit in the head, Yancey turned to Raleigh with a smirk. "You ready, kid?"

"I'm more worried 'bout you old man," Raleigh jabbed back. "Think your back can take it?"

Pentecost, through comm array, interjected, "Remember, your mission is to provide cover to the other teams while they rescue Quill."

"Yes, sir!" the two answered in unison.

* * *

The Autobots, the Joes, and the others all landed on the ground around Gipsy's feet.

"Frak it's cold!" Hot Rod groaned.

"You're telling me," Bumblebee replied. "I think my gears are stuck."

Optimus signaled ahead and shouted, "Autobots, move out!"

* * *

Scalpel growled as another of his tools snapped.

Quill smirked confidently. "Gotta love that subdermal armor implant."

"Hurry it up with that dissection," Rex urged. "We don't have long."

Scalpel snarled and shouted, "I'm trying! His skin heals too quickly! Zhe blades can't break zhrough his internal armor!"

Quill hummed wistfully as he looked around.

"So that's how it's going to be?" Rex remarked angrily before walking out.

"Hey, how about letting me go while you're at it?" Quill asked.

"Shut it!" Scalpel snarled before slapping Quill with his tiny arm.

Rex then walked back into the room with Frenzy next to him.

"I don't like that…" Quill grumbled.

Rex then turned to Frenzy. "We need to examine the patient but can't seem to cut him open."

Frenzy thought for a moment before smirking. "A sud sik xam efod!" A saw blade then formed on his arm before spinning brightly.

"Uh… don't do that…" Quill mumbled. "Pretty please?"

"Kamo ke tao!" Frenzy lunged forward to strike Quill but stumbled when the entire base shook.

"Oh what now!?" Rex snarled.

"Yes!" Quill shouted as Frenzy's fall freed his arm.

* * *

"What on Earth was that!?" McCullen shouted angrily to Starscream.

* * *

Outside the arctic base, Gipsy Danger stood over the snow-covered complex and raised its arm before punching a massive hole in the wall.

"Knock, knock!" Raleigh shouted. "Anyone home!?"

Thundercracker looked out the hole in shock as he saw Gipsy. "What in Primus' name is that!?"

"Here's Gipsy!" Yancey shouted as Gipsy threw another punch, carving an even larger hole in the complex.

* * *

"Don't just stand there!" McCullen ordered. "Sound the alarm!"

* * *

Alarms all throughout the complex began to blare loudly.

"Aaww, how sweet, they've sounded the party music," Cliffjumper noted as he and the other Autobots neared the large front door into the complex.

Optimus smashed through the large double doors in his vehicle mode before opening his trailer allowing the Joes and the others to jump out and storm the base.

"Light 'em up!" Roadblock shouted as they were surrounded by M.A.R.S. soldiers.

Rocket unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on the incoming soldiers. "Yyeeaahh! Eat this!"

A Neo-Viper charged at Rocket only for Groot's arms to extend out and ensnare the charging man.

"I… am… Groot!" Groot shouted before hoisting the man into the air and slamming him down several times.

Ironhide stood and fired his Magma Frag Launcher at a group soldiers before turning and shouting, "The Decepticons are here!"

"No shit!" Flint retorted as he shot another soldier in the head.

"Persistent bugs," Blackout snarled before readying his circular saw.

Ironhide howled and rushed forward, jumping up and tackling Blackout to the ground.

Hawk turned to a nearby hallway and shouted, "Scarlett! Go and find Quill! Snake Eyes, back her up!"

"Sir!" Scarlett answered curtly before running down the hall with Snake Eyes and Gamora.

Cliffjumper kicked a soldier away and smirked confidently. "I've got brand new legs to kick bumper with!"

"Do not waste time using them to kick bumpers!" Drax argued as he stabbed two soldiers in the head.

Cliffjumper merely ignored Drax and started firing into the crowd of Decepticons before seeing Brawl and scowling as he charged. "It's payback time for Jazz!"

Brawl turned to him disinterestedly. "Oh? I think not, Autobot bug." Brawl fired his Scrapmaker at Cliffjumper, the red Autobot easily rolling under the shots before firing his Scatter Blaster as he rolled to his feet.

Optimus looked around before punching Barricade out of his way. "I believe Starscream will be in command by this point. I will find him and put an end to this."

Bumblebee and Hot Rod turned and saw Soundwave and Barricade nearby.

Soundwave armed his Electro Bolter and fired at the duo.

The two Autobots dove to the side, dodging the shot before Bumblebee remarked, "I'll take Soundwave."

"What?" Hot Rod questioned. "No, I will. You take Barricade."

Bumblebee turned to Hot Rod. "Three Piece to decide?"

Hot Rod nodded. "Sounds good."

Soundwave charged and shot at the two.

The duo dodged the shot before both punched him in the face. "Wait your turn!"

Brawl grabbed Cliffjumper off his back and threw him at Bumblebee and Hot Rod.

The two Autobots immediately jumped to the side as Cliffjumper flew, causing him to hit the ground and slide.

"Ow…" Cliffjumper groaned before standing and wiping dirt from his face. "You two could have caught me!"

"That would require actual effort," Bumblebee retorted.

Cliffjumper frowned in disbelief.

* * *

Quill punched a Neo-Viper in the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. "Now…"

Rex immediately ran out of the room, away from the escaped Quill. "Capture him!" he ordered to two Neo-Vipers. "Alive if possible, dead if not!"

The two Neo-Vipers began walking towards Quill.

"Oh crap," Quill groaned before turning and running. "Okay, now to find my stuff." Running past a long table, he saw his equipment lying in a pile. "There!" Putting his coat and holsters back on he picked up the plasma rifle and smiled. "Miss me baby?"

Frenzy rounded the corner, pointed at Quill, and shouted, "Kxoho xo aj!"

Quill grinned as he turned around. "Yeah, and I'm armed bitch!" He fired a shot from the plasma rifle that sent Frenzy slamming into a wall.

Frenzy growled in pain before splitting his arms and turning two into Scrapmakers and two into Thermo Rocket Launchers before firing a barrage of bullets and rockets at Quill.

"Shit!" Quill cursed as he ducked down a hallway to dodge.

Frenzy rounded the corner and fired several shuriken from his chest.

Quill leaned to the side to dodge them before Frenzy lunged forward. "Ouk kxaj!"

Quill grabbed Frenzy by the head as he reached him and lifted him off the ground. "Oh yeah? Screw you too buddy!" He then slammed Frenzy against the wall and then placed the plasma rifle against the spindly Decepticon before firing, blowing him to pieces.

"Oh shit," Frenzy squeaked before his body crumpled to the ground.

"Finally… now, to find those missiles."

Quill rounded a corner at the same time Scarlett, Gamora, and Snake Eyes did, causing him to slam into Scarlett, her falling and landing on top of him. With a smirk, Quill muttered, "I could get used to this."

Scarlett huffed as she stood. "Don't."

Standing and wiping dirt from his coat, Quill remarked, "That was fast."

Gamora stepped forward and punched Quill hard in the face.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!?"

"For getting your dumb self captured," Gamora snarled before wrapping her arms around him.

Quill sighed and patted her back. "Hey, not my fault I couldn't afford that implant."

"Okay," Scarlett interrupted, "now to get out of here."

"Not 'til we find those warheads."

Breaker then contacted Scarlett on the radio. "We've got a problem. A big one."

"What is it?" Scarlett asked.

"They have three huge ballistic missiles armed with the Nanomite warheads!"

"Oh that's not good," Quill groaned.

"Yes. And we need to stop them somehow," Breaker added.

"Crap…"

Gamora furrowed her brow in thought. "What about the Gipsy Danger?"

"The what?"

Scarlett nodded in agreement.

* * *

Blackout growled and threw Ironhide away from him and then fired his Electro Bolter as the Autobot flew, causing Ironhide to hit the ground hard and roll away.

Heavy Duty fired his minigun at Blackout, hitting the Decepticon with a spray of bullets to the head.

"Pest!" Blackout growled before slamming his Electro Bolter into the ground, causing a shock wave that knocked Heavy Duty to the ground.

Drax ran and jumped on Blackout's planted arm, climbing and running up it to his head and planted one of his knives in Blackout's eye.

"Gah!" Blackout howled in pain as he stumbled back. "My optic! Get off!"

Drax repeatedly stabbed Blackout's eye, destroying it, before Blackout grabbed him and threw him off.

"Think fast!" Roadblock shouted as he fired a rocket launcher at Blackout, hitting him in the head.

Blackout growled as Energon spilled from the hole in his head before Ironhide charged.

Ironhide readied his Magma Frag Launcher and jumped up to Blackout and aimed at his head, firing a blast at pointblank range, destroying Blackout's head in a shower of Energon and metal.

"Scrap!" Barricade growled. "Blackout's been deactivated!"

Brawl growled and began firing his Scrapmaker at Ironhide.

Ironhide stumbled back from the barrage of shots.

Duke aimed his grenade launcher at Brawl and fired, hitting his back.

Brawl growled from the shot and then slammed both hands into onto the ground, the shock wave knocking Duke to the ground.

Duke groaned as Brawl walked towards him before Cliffjumper ran and jumped on Brawl's back.

"Get off me!" Brawl snarled as Cliffjumper jumped up from his back and fired several shots from his Scatter Blaster, damaging Brawl's head. "Why you…!" Brawl growled as he fired a rocket from his shoulder.

Cliffjumper rolled to the side as Duke fired another grenade, hitting Brawl in the chin, destroying his lower jaw.

"Scwa you!" Brawl cursed, his jaw hanging.

Cliffjumper ran and readied a heat ax before chopping at Brawl's leg, taking it off at the knee.

Brawl growled and hobbled forward before Cliffjumper turned, ran, and then tackled Brawl's back, knocking him to the ground.

Cliffjumper jumped on Brawl's back and punched his head repeatedly before firing his Scatter Blaster at pointblank range, destroying Brawl's head. "There… finally down."

* * *

Hot Rod and Bumblebee slammed into each other after being tossed by Soundwave and Barricade respectively before hitting the ground.

"You are making this far too easy," Soundwave taunted before hopping forward and kicking Hot Rod's face.

Bumblebee stood to fire at Soundwave but Barricade grabbed his other arm, pushed him to the ground and knocked him the jaw.

"Now, time to end you foolish Autobots," Soundwave remarked as he readied his Electro Bolter.

Barricade was knocked into Soundwave from an explosion to the back, knocking Soundwave's shot off target.

Bumblebee turned in surprise and saw Ripcord in a small M.A.R.S. hovercraft.

"I've always wanted to fly one of these!" Ripcord shouted excitedly as he fired off the machine gun, pinning Soundwave and Barricade with a stream of bullets. "Hahaha! Die bitch, die!"

Soundwave growled and stood, taking the shots, and raised his Electro Bolter.

"Oh crap," Ripcord deadpanned as Soundwave fired. Ripcord moved the craft to the side just barely, Soundwave's shot hitting the tail and knocking it off course, causing it to hit the ground and roll to the side.

Bumblebee jumped and tackled Soundwave to the ground, only to get kicked away before Barricade stood and fired at him.

Hot Rod jumped up and punched Barricade, ducked a swing from Soundwave, standing back up an elbow to Soundwave's face. "I'll take both you jerks!" Hot Rod challenged.

Barricade lunged forward and grabbed Hot Rod's arm, hoisting him into the air before slamming him back down, hoisting him into the air again before Soundwave fired his Electro Bolter, sending Hot Rod flying.

"Hot Rod!" Bumblebee shouted as he stood, only to get sent flying by a shot from Soundwave.

Hot Rod growled as he stood, Energon leaking slowly from a gash in his side.

"You are finished, Autobot," Soundwave remarked as he fired again.

Hot Rod dove to the side and stood before firing his Neutron Assault Rifle at the two Decepticons.

Soundwave growled as a shot grazed his mouth before Hot Rod ran and jumped, leaping over Barricade's shot, before he landed and punched Soundwave in the face with his Neutron Assault Rifle, firing off a shot at the same time, destroying Soundwave's lower face.

Barricade growled and charged, activating his saw blade, before swiping at Hot Rod's back, leaving a large gash in his back.

"Why you…!" Hot Rod snarled before turning and punching Barricade in the side of the head.

Barricade stumbled back before punching Hot Rod's wound on his side, causing Hot Rod to buckle in pain. Barricade smirked before slicing at Hot Rod's face, carving a large gash below his left eye. "Now to rip you apart."

Bumblebee stood with a growl, knocked down as Ravage emerged from Soundwave's chest and clawed at his face.

Barricade readied his Scatter Blaster and aimed it at Hot Rod's chest. "No more comebacks," Barricade taunted before firing repeatedly, causing Hot Rod's chest to explode, spraying Energon all around.

"No!" Bumblebee shouted before Ravage bit down on his throat. Bumblebee hissed in pain as he grabbed Ravage and yanked him off, the feline Decepticon taking a chunk of the Autobot's neck with him, before Bumblebee smacked him against the wall as Energon poured from the hole in his neck.

"I suppose I shall finish you as well," Barricade remarked as he walked towards Bumblebee.

Bumblebee glared as Barricade approached and then slammed his Plasma Cannon against Barricade's chest and fired a full-charge shot, sending the Decepticon flying away with a hole in his chest. Bumblebee huffed in exhaustion before collapsing.

* * *

Thundercracker fired at Optimus as he ran through a hallway, the Autobot deftly avoiding his shots before standing and firing a burst from his Ion Blaster.

"Hey! Tough guy!" Raleigh shouted through Gipsy's speaker.

Thundercracker turned as the roof was ripped from that area of the base before Gipsy slammed its fist down. Thundercracker transformed and flew ahead, dodging the giant robot's fist and flying up. "I'll terminate you myself!"

"Optimus, go!" Yancey urged.

Optimus nodded and continued his trek through the hall.

Thundercracker flew up high above Gipsy Danger and transformed, readying his Null Ray Sniper Rifle and fired several shots that tore through the Jaeger's collar. "Heh, your armor's not very thick, is it?"

"It's enough to deal with you!" Raleigh retorted as Gipsy turned and swung its fist at Thundercracker.

Thundercracker flew under the fist and fired his Neutron Assault Rifle at the machine's wrist before its other fist slammed into him from behind and sent him crashing into a nearby tower. Thundercracker growled and jumped back out, sending a series of shots at Gipsy.

Gipsy raised its right hand, the fingers spreading as the hand shifted, turning into a large gun barrel.

"Take Gipsy's Plasma Caster!" Yancey shouted as blast of blue energy shot from the cannon and hit Thundercracker, blasting off one of his arms and sending him tumbling into the ice below. "Puissant."

* * *

Optimus slammed through a large metal door and found Starscream on a ledge out of the back of the base. "You're not escaping this time, Starscream!"

Starscream turned and growled in frustration. "Lube off, Prime!" Starscream retorted as he loaded his Thermo Rocket Launcher and fired at Optimus.

Optimus rolled under the shots and punched Starscream in the abdomen as he stood, continuing his punch to knock the large Decepticon off his feet and slam him into the floor. "Stay down!" Optimus shouted as he raised a fist and pounded Starscream's head.

Starscream pointed his thrusters at the door and fired them off, launching out the ledge and taking Optimus with him, over the massive chasm outside the base. "This will be your grave, Prime!" Starscream shouted as grabbed Optimus off him and kicked him away.

Optimus turned and grabbed Starscream's foot as he tried to fly away and used his momentum to swing Starscream at the wall of the base, causing him to fall, before planting his foot on Starscream's face and using the Decepticon as a platform to jump up and back into the base, knocking Starscream down into the chasm below.

* * *

Yancey and Raleigh walked with Gipsy to patrol the outside of the base when they heard Scarlett's voice.

"Gipsy Danger, can you hear me!?" she shouted over the radio.

"We hear you loud and clear, red," Yancey replied.

"The Decepticons are planning to fire off Nanomite-filled ballistic missiles. You need to stop them from launching!"

Yancey looked at Raleigh and the two nodded.

"We're on it!" Yancey answered.

* * *

McCullen growled as he walked into the room with the missiles. Pointing at a man at a control panel, he shouted, "Fire the missiles! Do it now!"

As the missiles' thrusters warmed up, McCullen watched the wall around them begin to crack.

"What the…?"

The wall suddenly burst as Gipsy Danger smashed through it into the large room.

"Raleigh!" Yancey shouted.

"Got it!" Raleigh responded as he shook his arm, causing a long, segment sword to emerge from Gipsy Danger's arm and sway about before stiffening as it sliced one of the large missiles in half, knocking it to the ground.

Gipsy Danger then readied its Plasma Caster and fired at the second missile, causing it to collapse.

"Nnoo!" McCullen shouted. "Fire the last missile! Do it now!" McCullen turned as the second missile collapsed nearby and exploded, swallowing him in a fireball.

Gipsy Danger turned as the final missile launched into the air, leaping up and grabbing onto it as flew.

"Okay…" Raleigh mumbled as he and Yancey held on to the missile. "now what?"

* * *

"Look!" Duke shouted as he and the others exited the complex and saw the last missile with Gipsy Danger hanging on.

Quill looked at the sight and gaped. "That… looks awesome."

"No," Gamora deadpanned.

"Aaww… c'mon! Just one?"

"No. Not at all. End of story."

"Aw…"

* * *

"Three…" Yancey began to count down, "Two… One… Now!"

Gipsy Danger leaped from the missile and fired a shot from its Plasma Caster at the missile, causing it to explode midair, and for Gipsy Danger to fall out of the sky and hit the ice below, sending a powerful shock wave out in all directions and shattering much of the ice.

* * *

Quill turned to Gamora desperately. "Can I _please_ get one?"

Breaker looked at a device in his hand and put his other hand near Quill's face. "Shush!"

"Huh?"

"Are you reading this?" Tony asked as he looked at his HUD and saw a large blob.

"Yes," Breaker answered. "I've got an energy reading. A big one."

"Where from?" Optimus asked.

Breaker turned to him in disbelief. "Below us."

The area began to shake violently as the ice around them began to crack.

"Um… guys…" Quill muttered, "I think we should run."

The ice near the base caved in as a loud, ear-splitting howl filled the air.

"Oohh that's not good," Rocket mumbled.

The group all turned as a massive, reptilian, bipedal creature rose from the ice, its dark green skin glistening in the light from the snow around it, its body shaking as its large, rounded, four-toed feet stamped onto the ice in front of it. The creature stood up straight, its spines waving as it walked away from the hole it was before took in a deep breath and let out an intense howl, the air spreading from the force of its shout.

"What the hell…?" Raleigh muttered in shock.

"That can't be…" Yancey remarked in disbelief.

Breaker dropped his device and stumbled back as the monster's body made the ground it stepped on quake. "I – It… it's Godzilla!"

"It's enormous…" Scarlett remarked in stupor.

Raleigh tightened his fist before turning to Yancey. "Let's go, Bro! This is exactly what Gipsy was built for!"

However, before Gipsy Danger could even move, Godzilla swung its thick tail and slammed it into the Jaeger, causing it to slide back on the ice, digging a trail with its feet, the Kaiju releasing a low growl as the gills on its neck vibrated.

"He's got some serious power, I'll give him that," Yancey mumbled as Gipsy raised its arms to fight.

Godzilla released a powerful howl before Gipsy Danger fired several shots from its Plasma Caster at the beast's head.

Yancey's eyes widened in awe. "It didn't even faze him!"

Optimus narrowed his eyes and then pointed at Godzilla. "Autobots, open fire!"

Godzilla growled in annoyance as the shots from the Autobots ricocheted off its hard scales.

Gipsy Danger readied its chain sword and surged swiping at Godzilla's torso.

Godzilla snarled angrily as the sword bounced off harmlessly before grabbing Gipsy's arm and biting down on the machine's shoulder.

Raleigh howled in pain as his armor sparked before Godzilla pulled, ripping the left arm and much of the shoulder out with ease.

"Ddaammnn yyoouu!" Raleigh howled as Gipsy's right fist locked up before a thruster fired from the elbow, slamming its fist into the monster's face.

The behemoth gnarled in discontent as the fins on its back began to light up, blue light collecting and swirling up its back before reaching its. Godzilla puffed its chest, towering over Gipsy, before shooting a powerful, concentrated beam of blue energy out its mouth at Gipsy Danger, shearing through the right side of its torso with ease before swinging its head up, the beam moving up with its movement, carving through the Jaeger's shoulder and neck, obliterating the right side of the head in process before Gipsy stumbled and fell back, smashing to the ground as pieces and sparks flew all over.

"Yyanncceeyy!" Raleigh shouted as the right side of Gipsy's head lit up, his brother vanishing in a single flash of light as the machine fell.

Godzilla puffed its chest and then released a loud, powerful roar of triumph before turning and walking to the edge of the ice and dumped itself into the ocean, disappearing beneath the waves.

"We… need bigger guns…" Drax mumbled.

"Y – Yeah…" Quill agreed.

"Becket!" Optimus shouted as he ran over to the heavily damaged Gipsy Danger.

Tony flew over to the machine's head and watched as the unconscious Raleigh fell from the cockpit, catching him before he slammed into the ground.

"I can't believe this…" Optimus muttered as he looked at the remains of Gipsy. "This machine was custom built to battle that monster and it did not so much as scratch him."

"Optimus!" Ironhide shouted as he ran out, carrying Bumblebee and Hot Rod. "We have wounded!"

Optimus clenched his hands and sighed heavily. "Ratchet, bridge us back."

Quill turned as Snake Eyes walked up to the group. "Where's your pajama friend?"

Snake Eyes made a slashing motion at his neck.

"Ah… guess that's one more of them gone."

* * *

In a submarine below the ocean's waves, Rex stood with a badly injured McCullen.

"You needn't worry too much, McCullen. Our plans are only just getting started," Rex stated as he pulled his respirator and wig off, exposing his heavily scarred head, before putting a blue helmet with a silver visor over his head. "We have only just begun." Rex put his hands on the sides of McCullen's face as Nanomites flowed into the man's skin, causing him to howl in pain. "Don't worry, this will make you stronger than before. You now will embody Destro. I am the new commander here. Of our new army. Cobra!"

McCullen, his head now covered by a thick metallic armor, turned to Cobra Commander in shock. "You… you planned this from the beginning… didn't you?"

Cobra Commander smirked under his mask. "You tell me, Destro."

However, their submarine suddenly stopped and was lifted up out of the water.

"What's going on!?"

* * *

Optimus and Ironhide rose out of the water and threw the escape sub onto the ice.

Quill and Duke walked up to the hatch and blasted it open.

"What is the meaning of –!?" Cobra Commander began, only to be knocked out from a punch by Duke.

"Quill told me everything you said, Rex," Duke snarled. "And now you're going to pay for it."

Ironhide grabbed Cobra Commander and Destro as a blue portal of energy appeared nearby.

* * *

Tubes closed around Destro and Cobra Commander as they were locked away deep within the Triskelion.

"So now what?" Quill asked Fury with Ana standing next to him.

"We'll keep her in a less high security area," Fury explained. "But she's going to stay there until we can determine whether she's a threat or not."

"She was –!" Quill began to argue before Ana put a hand up.

"It's alright, Peter," Ana interrupted. "I did some awful things when I was with McCullen, and I need to atone for it. Don't worry about me."

Quill frowned heavily as images of a girl standing next to a young boy in a hospital entered his mind. "Okay… but I'm not going to leave you in there forever, got it?"

Ana nodded as two S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents took her away.

* * *

"This is unbelievable," Pentecost remarked as he looked over the damage to Gipsy Danger.

Fury sighed in frustration. "So we managed to get rid of the Decepticons and stopped those warheads. But Godzilla destroyed our greatest weapon. It's hard to believe it's so strong. And we lost a good man as well."

Tony groaned as he flexed his heavily damaged armor. "If you don't mind, I'd like to head back to my home in Malibu. This armor's just a prototype anyway, it wasn't designed to take this kind of abuse."

"Think we can come with?" Quill asked. Patting Rocket on the head, narrowly avoiding the rodent's bite, he added, "Rocket here's a top mechanic."

Tony looked at Rocket in thought. "He breaks it you buy it."

"Agreed."

"I'll get the Land Bridge ready to send the lot of you," Ratchet explained.

"You're not even going to take a tour of your new home?" Fury asked Quill with faux depression.

"Sorry," Quill remarked with a smirk, "I'm more interested in Stark's tech."

The Land Bridge emerged nearby as Tony walked into it.

"Well, see ya later." Quill held the plasma rifle and added, "Oh, and I'm keepin' Veronica."

* * *

Pepper sighed as she sat in a large lounge, looking over a series of files on a tablet. "Where could he have gone…?"

At that moment the Land Bridge suddenly appeared in the room, causing Pepper to yelp slightly in surprise before Tony, Quill, Rocket, Gamora, Groot, and Drax walked out of it.

Pepper looked at the group and Tony's heavily damaged armor and gaped. "Do I…?"

Tony put up a hand. "I know what you're thinking but, seriously, this isn't the worst thing you've caught me doing."

Pepper walked towards the group, looking at Groot and the others, and asked, "Who… _what_ … are they?"

Quill put a hand out to shake hers and explained, "Name's Peter Quill. People call me Star-Lord."

"No they don't," Drax corrected.

Quill twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

Tony motioned to Pepper and introduced, "This is Pepper Potts, my beautiful assistant."

Pepper frowned in annoyance. "What did you do now?"

"He got caught up in a battle royale between two factions of alien robots," Rocket explained.

"You have to be joking…"

"I am Groot," the tree-man added as he shook his head.

"Okay… I'll remember that."

Quill looked around and then sighed. "So… I'm hungry. Who wants pizza?"

Tony and Rocket both raised their hands.

"Cool."

* * *

Tony flinched as Rocket attempted to pull the damaged armor off of him. "Ow! Careful!"

"Well this armor is really tight on there," Rocket grumbled as he pulled a piece off and set it to the side. "What kind of lubricant'd ya use on it?"

Tony turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "… Lubricant…?"

Rocket groaned heavily before turning and shouting, "Groot! Get over here!"

* * *

In the lounge, Quill sat on the sofa with Pepper. Turning to her he asked, "So… you work for Tony?"

Pepper nodded with a sigh. "Yes. As his secretary."

"Must be tiring."

Pepper sighed heavily. "You have no idea."

"Need a massage?"

Pepper furrowed her brow in thought. "Hhmm… that might be nice."

"I was professionally trained in the Rumarian art of massage."

Pepper turned to him puzzled. "The what?"

Quill waved a hand dismissively. "A type of alien. They're hot."

"Ah…"

"Well? Want one?"

Pepper frowned in thought. "… Maybe. Try anything funny and I'll kill you."

Quill put up his hands. "Trust me, if I do that Gamora will do much worse than kill me."

* * *

Gamora walked into the lounge of Tony's house and saw Pepper passed out on the sofa with Quill sitting nearby. "You are unbelievable."

"I know I am," Quill responded with a smirk. "But what specifically this time?"

"You used your pelvic sorcery on her didn't you?"

Quill raised an eyebrow and then immediately stood up. "Whoa, whoa! No! I gave her a massage! That's all!"

Tony walked up from his basement and stretched with a groan. "Finally! Free at last!" He glanced to the side and saw Pepper asleep. "What happened to Pep?"

"A massage."

"Huh… think it'll nicen her up a little?"

Quill folded his arms in thought. "Maybe for a little while."

Tony furrowed his brow in thought. "I see… good work."

"Right. So… where's that pizza?"

At that moment, the home's front door rang.

"Finally!" Rocket exclaimed as he ran to the door.

"Your pizza's…" the delivery man began only to trail off as he saw Rocket.

"Thanks!" Rocket answered as he took the pizzas.

"Charge it to Stark Industries," Tony explained as he took one of the boxes from Rocket.

"Uh… right…"

Tony closed the door and walked over carrying a box of pizza as Groot took the others from Rocket and set them on the table.

"What is that smell?" Drax asked as he entered the room.

"Pizza," Quill answered as he pulled a piece off and handed it to Drax. "Try it."

Drax raised an eyebrow and took a bit. "Good."

"'Course it is," Quill replied as he bit into a piece.

Swallowing a bite of pizza, Tony turned to Quill and asked, "Hey, Pete, got any mechanical skills?"

Quill raised an eyebrow and sat on a barstool. "Some. Why?"

"Right. You and the rodent, come give me a hand. "I'm going to do some upgrades for the Mk-III."

"Hey!" Rocket snarled. "I have a name you know!"

"Spot?"

Rocket frowned angrily. "It would be so easy to kill you…"

"Let's get to work."

* * *

"I think we should add these here," Tony explained as he pointed at a three dimensional hologram of his suit.

"No, no, no, it'd make the left side too heavy," Rocket argued as he swiped the part away. "That would throw off your balance entirely."

Tony put a hand to his chin in thought. "True…"

"Let's try this," Rocket mentioned as he put two parts on the shoulders. "Miniature missile launchers on each side."

Tony furrowed his brow in thought as he looked at the schematic. "Hhmm… that's doable."

"Good. So, what exactly you got for a power source in this thing?"

Tony lifted his shirt and pointed to a round, glowing object in his chest. "It's a miniaturized version of the Arc Reactor."

"Neat," Rocket replied as he looked at it curiously.

Quill looked at a second Arc Reactor that was stored in a glass case.

"No touch!" Tony reprimanded as Quill looked at it. "That's the prototype to this one. The energy capacitor in it is limited. I built it out of scrap metal in a bunker in the desert. It powered the Mk-I."

"Can't you upgrade it?" Quill asked.

"It's simpler to just build a second one." Tapping his chest he added, "So that's what I did."

"So? Never know when you might need a spare heart."

Tony sat in thought for a moment before huffing lightly. "You wanna give it a shot? Go ahead. That thing's got some sentimental value to Pep, so if you break it you have to explain it." He looked over a schematic and then tapped on his keyboard. "Note: main transducer feels sluggish at plus forty altitude and hull pressurization is problematic and I'm thinking icing is a probable factor."

"Icing?" Quill asked.

"Yeah. When you get to high in this thing it starts to ice over. That's part of why I ended up over Mission City to start with."

"A very astute observation, sir. Perhaps if you intend to visit other planets we should improve the exo-systems," a computerized voice remarked.

"Whoa! What's that?" Quill asked in surprise.

"It's JARVIS," Tony explained. "He's my custom built AI that handles most of the functions of the house."

"Damn that's cool…"

"JARVIS, connect to the sys. co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure a fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio."

"Shall I render using proposed specifications?" JARVIS asked.

"Thrill me."

Groot pointed to the television and mumbled, "I am Groot."

"What do you mean there's something going on?" Rocket asked.

Groot pointed to the television.

Tony and the others turned as the reporter on the screen spoke.

"Tonight's red-hot red carpet is here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighter's Family Fund has become _the_ place to be for L.A.'s high society."

Tony furrowed his brow in confusion. "JARVIS, you get an invite for that?"

"I have no record of an invitation, sir," JARVIS answered.

The reporter continued, "Stark hasn't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference."

"You know, she's got a point on the conference," Quill mentioned.

"Very funny, smartass," Tony retorted.

"Some claim he's suffering from posttraumatic stress and has been bedridden for weeks. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight," the reporter added.

"The render is complete," JARVIS stated as a hologram of an all-gold humanoid machine appeared on the screen.

Tony raised an eyebrow in thought. "A little ostentatious, don't you think?"

"What _was_ I thinking? You're usually so discreet."

"Like a flying hammer," Quill commented.

"Don't need any help from the peanut gallery," Tony retorted.

"Hey, how about some red on it?"

Tony turned to Quill in thought and then turned back to his computer. "Hey JARVIS, throw a little hotrod red on there."

"As you wish sir," JARVIS answered.

"Opinions?"

"Nice," Quill responded.

"Right. JARVIS, print it."

"Commencing automated assembly," JARVIS remarked. "Estimated completion time, five hours."

"Don't wait up for me honey. Yo, kid, wanna go for a ride?"

Quill frowned. "Kid? Really? And yeah."

"Cool. Look fancy, you're about to learn the high life."

* * *

Tony and Quill drove away from Tony's house in Tony's silver and black car, driving at high speeds toward the event in question.

As they stepped out, Quill looked around curiously. "That is a lot of cameras. You'd think a big time celebrity was coming here."

"Yeah," Tony answered as he adjusted his bowtie. "All of them."

"What?"

"This _is_ a red carpet event."

"Ah… so what can we expect at this party? Bunch o' old rich guys complaining 'bout their wives spending money? Or young women complaining about their husbands not letting them spend their money?"

"A little of both. Mostly it'll be young women complaining about their husbands leaving them alone."

Quill grinned. "I love the sound of that."

Tony began to walk but then turned to Quill. "But if there are any blondes they're mine."

"Oh? Dibs on redheads then."

"Deal. No double-dealing or lay-stealing, got it?"

"Of course."

Tony raised a fist to Quill, which Quill reciprocated with a fist-bump. "May the best man screw."

"Tony!" Obadiah shouted as Quill and Tony walked up. "So you made it, huh?"

"So what's this about me being bedridden?"

Obadiah huffed lightly. "Oh, come on. They're reporters, you know how they are. I had to shut them up somehow."

"Right." Tony then turned to Quill. "Obi, I want you to meet my new friend, Peter Quill, the man who saved the world. Unofficially of course."

"Yo," Quill motioned with a lazy wave.

Tony then motioned to Obadiah. "And, Quill, this is Obadiah Stane, an old business partner and the one who helps me run Stark Industries."

"Nice to meet you, Krill," Obadiah remarked lazily.

"It's Quill," Quill corrected.

"Yeah, whatever."

Quill shook his head in annoyance. ' _Douche._ '

Tony then patted Obadiah's shoulder. "I'll see you inside, Obi."

Obadiah put a hand on Tony's arm and pulled him close. "Hey, Tony, take it slow. I think I've got the board right where we want them."

"Don't worry, it's just a little cabin fever."

* * *

Inside, Quill looked around the large hall in awe. "That is a _lot_ of food."

"Sure is," Tony replied as he grabbed a drink.

Quill looked around and then saw Pepper amongst a crowd of people wearing a long blue dress. Tapping Tony's shoulder, he asked, "Hey, you said I get redheads, right?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" Tony then glanced over and saw Pepper. "No way," he said flatly.

"Uuhh, yes way. You called all the blondes, dude, so I get the redheads."

"Hey, don't you d –"

"Hello, Mr. Stark," Coulson said, interrupting Tony.

"Bye!" Quill remarked as he walked away quickly.

"Hey!" Tony said before sighing and then turning to Coulson in annoyance. "Do I know you?"

Coulson handed him a card. "I'm Agent Coulson. From the Strategic Homeland Interv –"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Got it."

"Right. Listen, I know you must be stressed after everything that's happened, but we need to debrief you. There's still a lot of unanswered questions involving your kidnapping, and time can be a factor with these things."

* * *

"Hey there, beautiful," Quill called as he walked up to Pepper.

Pepper turned suddenly, surprised at Quill's suddenly call. "Huh?! Oh, Quill."

Quill frowned slightly. "Huh? Just an 'Oh, Quill'?"

Pepper shook her head slightly. "Uh, sorry. I'm a little distracted."

"By what?"

Pepper put a hand up. "Don't worry, it's nothing."

* * *

"The twenty-fourth at seven, that sound good to you?" Tony asked in annoyance.

"Perfect," Coulson answered before walking away.

"Well, if it isn't the infamous Tony Stark," a blonde woman said curtly as she walked up to Tony.

"The one and only," Tony replied confidently. "Now… do I know you?"

"Christine Everhart. A reporter with the Tribune."

Tony tapped his chin in thought. "Ah, I remember you now. How can I help you?"

"Mr. Stark, I see right through your supposed pacifist nature."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Your weapons, the Jericho's, are being sold to numerous terrorist organizations. Including the Ten Rings."

"What?" Tony asked in confusion as he took some pictures she handed him.

Christine pointed to the pictures and explained, "That's a town in Afghanistan called Gulmira. Your weapons allowed these terrorists to take it over."

Tony's eyes widened slightly. "Where'd you say this was?"

Christine frowned in confusion. "Gulmira."

* * *

Pepper sat next to Quill, slightly inebriated and laughing slightly. "And, and then, he stumbled in the font door, drunk as a skunk, took one look around and asked, 'Has anyone seen my pants' before passing out on the floor."

Quill bent over, laughing loudly. "O – Oh my god! You should have recorded that!"

Pepper tried to stifle her laughter slightly unsuccessfully. "I – I was in too much shock…!"

"I bet!"

Tony walked up to the duo and knocked on the door.

"Huh?" Quill muttered as he turned to Tony.

"Sorry to interrupt," Tony stated with mild annoyance, "but we need to go, kid. Now."

Quill raised an eyebrow but then turned to Pepper with a shrug. "Okay then. Talk to you later, Pep."

Pepper blinked in confusion as they walked away. "Um, right."

* * *

"So what's gotten into you?" Quill asked as he and Tony left the party.

"You remember hearing about my kidnapping?" Tony asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Something about terrorists, wasn't it?"

"Yes. An organization called the Ten Rings. While I was there I built that miniature Arc Reactor and the Mk-I."

As they got into the car, Quill raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so you really did build it out of spare parts, huh?"

"Very funny. And I couldn't have done it without a man named Yinsen. He helped me build and program everything. He also gave his life to buy me time enough to get the Mk-I moving."

"Wow… sounds like a good man."

Tony nodded as he started the car and began driving away. "He was. His home town, Gulmira, was attacked and taken over by the Ten Rings. And they used weapons from my company to do it."

"Sounds like someone's dealing under the table," Quill added. "So, search and destroy?"

"Bingo. We're going to find and destroy every cache of my tech those bastards have. Hopefully you can fly long distances with those rocket boots of yours."

With a sigh, Quill added, "Yeah, me too. Man I wish the Milano II was in working order. Hey, after we take care of this, we should make my own suit."

"We'll see. That aside, you ready to help me weaponized the Mk-III?"

Quill grinned and retorted, "Does a Rumarian masseuse give happy endings?"

Tony sat silent for a moment. "Uuhh… sure…"

* * *

Tony and Quill made their way into the former's large house as Tony shouted, "Ratty! You, me, and the kid. Basement, now. We're going to put some teeth on that armor."

"Oh yeah!" Rocket replied as he jumped off Groot's back and ran to join the two.

* * *

"We should install a plasma cannon," Quill suggested as he looked at the designs for the Mk-III armor.

"What is it with you and plasma weapons?" Rocket questioned in frustration.

"No, it'll make the suit too heavy, performance will be sluggish," Tony rebutted.

"Yeah. We can install some ion lasers instead, and maybe some of those repulsors."

Tony nodded. "It's already got Repulsors on it for the flight stabilizers, but if we increase the power on them they might be able to fire a concentrated beam."

Quill looked at the hole in the center of the Mk-III's chest and then turned to Tony. "Hey, what if we wire this thing up so that it can fire a charged shot from your chest thingy? It'd make one hell of a beam cannon."

Tony tapped the reactor in his chest in thought. "Sounds dangerous. Do it."

"You got it!" Rocket added as he worked on the armor.

Quill turned around and began working at one of the many computers in Tony's lab.

Tony noticed this and, curious, questioned, "What are you working on over there?"

"Just drawing something up," Quill answered.

"Oh? Like what?" Tony asked as he fitted one of the gloves from the Mk-III over his hand.

"This," Quill explained as he pointed to a suit of bulky, green and black armor with a squared, golden visor. "It's an old suit of power armor I found on some ancient computer. It's called Mjolnir Mk-VI. I thought it'd be a good fit for me."

Tony hummed in thought. "JARVIS, how long would it take you to print that with the designs he's got?"

"Three hours, twenty-seven minutes," JARVIS answered plainly.

"Do it." Tony then turned to Quill. "Don't get used to my charity, this is just to pay you back for helping save the world. One-time only."

"Got it," Quill replied swiftly.

"Hey, kid, quick question before you start ignoring me again."

"I'm not a kid but sure, what is it?"

"How do you plan on powering that thing?"

Quill raised an eyebrow. "I was kinda planning on using a plasma cell to do it."

Tony frowned incredulously. "You have one of those just lying around? 'Cuz I don't." Furrowing his brow in thought, he then added, "JARVIS, note-to-self, invent plasma cell."

"As you wish, sir," JARVIS replied, "I will put that down next to invent self-making pizza."

"Good man." Tightening the glove over his hand, Tony raised his arm and noted, "Here goes –" he stopped suddenly as a blast of energy fired from his glove and destroyed a window, "something…"

"Okay, that's badass," Quill complimented.

* * *

Tony worked with Rocket on the Mk-III before Quill stepped into the main room, clad in the Mjolnir armor.

"Yo, Tony!" he shouted. "Whaddya think? Badass, am I right?"

Tony looked the armor over in thought. "It's a little bulky."

"Hey, bulky means more protection. So, how badly we gonna fry these Ten Handjobs guys?"

"Remember Yinsen? They promised him the lives of his family in return for compliance, and then shot them dead right in front of him before using my weapons to take over his home village."

"Ah… yeah, I'm definitely bringing Veronica. Some grenades. Maybe a few thermal missiles."

Rocket walked up to Quill, carrying a long, green, box-like weapon. "I reworked Veronica a bit, made a few upgrades. Increased the intensity of the beam and concentrated the shot. I call it the Spartan Laser."

"Sweet!" Quill strapped the weapon to his back and then turned to Tony.

Tony pulled the glass lid off the old miniature Arc Reactor and handed it to Quill. "I'll let you use it this one time, but if you break it you have to explain it to Pepper."

Quill nodded and put the Arc Reactor in a slot on his armor. "Hey, Rocket, see if you can scrounge up any plasma cores from S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Joes."

"Ready to fly?" Tony asked as the helmet of his armor closed. "Then let's ride."

* * *

In a sandy, middle eastern city, a group of soldiers pulled a family from their home, sending the children and the wife towards a truck before putting the father on his knees to be shot.

"Papa!" a young boy in the group shouted before running towards his father, only to be grabbed by one of the soldiers.

Another soldier looked at the first curiously as he saw a red dot on the man's head before a beam of light shot and killed him in one blow.

The soldiers and civilians alike turned as Quill and Tony descended from above and landed nearby.

"I'll take the five on the left, you get the three on the right," Quill suggested.

Tony jabbed Quill's shoulder. "No, I take the five, you get the three."

Quill sighed in irritation. "Tch, fine."

One of the soldiers immediately started firing at Quill.

Quill stepped forward slowly, unfazed by that man's shots before punching him in the abdomen, sending him flying. Quill turned to the others and asked, "Who's next?"

* * *

 **And there you have it. The conclusion to the fourth chapter of Guardians of Earth. Hopefully you all enjoyed it, be sure to post a review if you did. If you were confused or unsure about anything, do not forget to post a review even in that situation, as I will do my best to attend to your queries as good as I possibly can within the constraints of a reviewer response. And if you did not enjoy the chapter... well, post a review if you have something constructive to say, otherwise I would heartily suggest you go and find something you actually enjoy doing instead. Well, there is nothing left to add here, so until next time, buh-bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

 **Hello to all! Yes, it is yet another chapter of Guardians of Earth. I am simply stuck on this story for a bit so you will probably be seeing more of it for a while. Hopefully that is a good thing. That aside, I hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter, not that I can really tell, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Be sure to leave a review if you do or if you have any questions or concerns with the story. And please, no questions about other stories. If you have those, send me a PM. But, as usual, I would like to thank my coauthor, Bakuto Masaki for all his help with the story so far and hope for his continued assistance on it. So might as well get into the reviewer responses, shall we?**

 **superpeirce: Sorry, they're not. Quill is the main character of the story. Though I don't know why you'd think it weird for Quill to have a harem. That's the kind of person he is if you ask me.**

 **Well, there were not many reviewer responses, but it was nice responding to the few that there were.**

* * *

Tony and Quill stood in a group of Ten Rings members, stopping their assault on a small village.

One of the soldiers immediately started firing at Quill.

Quill stepped forward slowly, unfazed by that man's shots before punching him in the abdomen, sending him flying. Quill turned to the others and asked, "Who's next?"

Another soldier opened fire on Quill before the armored man grabbed him and threw him at a third soldier.

Tony then turned and fired blasts from his gloves at two other soldiers.

Quill narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You know… this is just too easy."

The soldiers then put their guns against the heads of the civilians as hostages.

"Move and we kill them!" one of the soldiers threatened.

Quill turned to Tony. "If you would be so kind."

"I'd be honored," Tony replied as small, shoulder-mounted rocket launchers folded out of his armor and fired small rockets at each of the soldiers, killing them instantly.

"Well, that takes care of that," Quill muttered as he stretched.

"Not quite," Tony interjected before slamming his fist through a wall and then pulling a man out from the wall and throwing him towards the civilians. "He's all yours."

With that, the duo flew off.

* * *

"We've got about a dozen more weapon caches in this area to deal with," Tony explained.

"Sounds like fun," Quill rebutted. "Hey, if you don't mind, what made you think it was a good idea to get out of the weapons business?"

Tony glanced at Quill curiously as they flew before looking back ahead. "Before, I didn't care about anything. Anything except money. I did whatever I could to get as much as I could. I didn't consider the consequences. Weapons seemed like the most lucrative investment. However… while I was held in that cave, I saw and learned firsthand what my weapons were really being used for. Killing and enslaving innocent people. That's not me. That's not what I want to be me."

"Ah… what if you coded them? Because flat-out stopping production is going to hurt a lot of people too in the long run. Especially with jobs."

"I'm going to put an end to this. I'm not going to let anyone use the technology I make to kill innocent people."

Quill sighed. "Okay then. I can help with that much. Just remember weapons can be used to protect innocent people too."

"Let's get them out of the hands of the terrorists first. Step two comes later."

"Right. Now to bring the hurt!"

Tony nodded in agreement. "First we need to –" Tony's words were cut short as some hit him and exploded, knocking him out of the air and causing him to crash on the ground below, carving a large crater in the ground.

"That looked painful."

Tony groaned as he stood up and saw a tank nearby, bending out of the way as it fired another shot. "Put a sock in it." He fired a small rocket from his forearm that lodged down the tank's barrel. He turned and walked out of the hole before the tank exploded in a large fireball.

"You okay down there?" Quill asked as he landed near to Tony.

Tony huffed in annoyance as he stretched his back. "Yeah, sure. Everyone needs a high-power tank round jammed in their side."

"Okay, okay, just checking," Quill responded, putting his hands up to quell Tony's frustration.

"Let's just go. We've still got a bunch of these caches to destroy.

* * *

Tony and Quill flew into the sky as a bunker was consumed by a fireball behind them.

"That's cache number twelve," Quill noted with amusement.

Tony nodded in agreement before looking behind them. "Uh-oh."

"What's wrong?"

Tony sighed and then turned to Quill. "Uh, don't look now, but we've got friends."

Two fighter jets flew up behind the duo at high speed, prepared to strike.

Quill groaned in annoyance. "Oh great…"

However, as they flew, attempting to stay ahead of the jets, the two heard ringing.

"Is that you?"

"Uh… hello?" Tony asked curiously.

"Tony…" a voice on the other line said with mild irritation.

"Who's this?"

"It's Rhodes," the other voice, Rhodes, answered.

"Sorry, speak up please."

"What in the hell is that noise?"

"Honey, I'm driving with the top down."

"Yeah? Well I need your help right now."

"Oh really? Kinda busy myself here."

"Well we just got a weapon depot that was blown up just a few klicks from where you were being held captive."

"Well that's a, uh, a hotspot. Sounds like someone… stepped in and did your job for you."

"Why do you sound out of breath?"

"I'm not, I was just joggin' in the canyon."

Rhodes remained silent in suspicion for a moment. "I thought you were driving."

"Smooth…" Quill interjected. "Real smooth Stark."

"Zip it," Tony whispered angrily before redirecting his attention back to Rhodes. "Uh, right, I was driving in the canyon."

Rhodes sighed and then asked, "You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about? Because we've got one, no two, unknown, tiny little bogies in that area."

Quill waved a hand and interjected, "Hey, ask them if they can see me waving."

"And one is… waving at us…"

"Yes!"

The fighter jets then began firing at the duo.

"Whoa! Stop shooting!" Quill shouted as he dodged their fire.

"Okay, Rhodey, call'em off, it's me!" Tony exclaimed as he weaved through their shots.

Rhodes groaned heavily. "You gotta be kidding, you don't send civilian equipment to –"

"It's not a piece of equipment," Tony interrupted, "it's a suit! I'm inside it!"

Quill's suit was struck by several shots from one of the jets, causing him to tumble back of control and slam into the jet, knocking it off balance.

"You alright?" Tony asked as Quill tumbled before righting himself.

"I – I, uh, I think so…" Quill answered weakly.

As the jet tumbled uncontrollably through the air, the pilot managed to eject and began to pull on his parachute, but found the clamp would not release. "Dammit! My chute's stuck!"

"Ah shit. Hang on!" Quill immediately flew over and jammed his fist into the parachute's trigger, causing it to deploy.

Tony sighed in relief. "Okay Rhodey, call off the other dog."

"You alive, Tony?" Rhodes asked in frustration.

"Yeah, barely."

"You know you owe me a jet, right?"

"Technically, he hit my friend."

"Friend? Look, I'll call off the attack so long as you agree to keep me out of this mess."

"Deal."

"Hey!" Quill interjected, "Have him throw in a pizza!"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "And throw in a pizza."

Rhodes sighed and then asked, "What am I supposed to tell the press?"

"Uuhh, training exercise. Isn't the usual BS?"

"It's not that simple," Rhodes argued.

* * *

Tony and Quill sat in front of the television the next day as Rhodes attended a press conference.

"An unfortunate training exercise involving an F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday," Rhodes explained to reporters. "I am pleased to report the pilot was not injured. As for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who or what intervened. But I can assure you the United States was not involved."

Quill chuckled lightly as he sat eating pizza. "And he said it wasn't that simple. Standard BS, works every time."

Pepper made her way down the stairs as Quill watched, being careful to avoid the glass shards as she did.

"Heya, Pep! Want some pepperoni?"

"What?" Pepper asked with mild confusion before turning and seeing Tony, still mostly clad in his Mk-III armor, attempting and failing to remove the armor with Rocket's help.

"Come on," Tony remarked, "this is not the most embarrassing thing you've caught me doing."

"… Okay, what happened to you two?"

"Tony picked a fight with a tank," Quill answered.

"You what!?"

"Hey!" Tony argued, "It picked that fight with me."

"Huh," Quill mumbled. "Looks like they did have armor-piercing."

Pepper sighed heavily and then turned to Quill. "Hey, remember that offer you made me earlier?"

Quill raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I think I'll take you up on it."

Quill stood excitedly and nodded. "Cool."

As the two walked out, Tony watched in confusion. "Uuhh… what offer? Hey! Wait!"

* * *

Pepper sighed as she laid down on the lounge's sofa.

"Hope you enjoy," Quill remarked as he flexed his fingers.

"I hope you're as good as you say," Pepper retorted.

"No need to worry. Now just relax," Quill suggested as he began rubbing her shoulders.

Pepper stiffened and attempted, and failed, to hide a moan.

Quill grinned slightly. "You've certainly got a lot of tension."

Pepper sighed. "W – Well with Tony as my boss it –" another moan interrupted her words.

Quill shrugged as he moved his hands from her shoulders to her upper back. "Guess so. You know, if you ask me he could have done things differently than shutting down the entire weapons department. Like installing locks on the weapons."

Pepper attempted to respond but was silenced as a tremble shook through her body.

"Good grief you're tense. Just how much stress do you have."

Pepper released a heavy sigh. "Lots…"

"Well that's not good. Guess I'll just have to get out as much of it as I can. Like I said, he could've put locks on the weapons or switched to primarily defensive weaponry."

"Maybe… but whatever it is he sa – aahh!"

Quill chuckled lightly. "Sorry, didn't quite get that," he teased.

Pepper huffed momentarily before continuing, "What I said was… whatever it is he saw over there… changed him…"

"Still, he could've went with weapon locks or defensive tech. You can't kill a man with a missile jammer after all. And it wouldn't put who-know-how many American men and women out of a job."

"Well it doesn't matter anyway, he didn't get his wish. His attempt to shut do –" Pepper was again interrupted by her own moaning before she sighed in exhaustion. "… His attempt to… shut down the weapons division was blocked."

"Lemme guess, Old Bald Kenobi."

Pepper flinched before sighing once more. "Yes…"

"Huh. That's good to know. You'd think Tony would've put the old fool in a maximum security retirement home by now."

"He can't. Obadiah has a lot of pull with the board of directors…" She tensed, trembled, and then moaned before continuing, "Even more than Tony does…"

"Hhmm… then we should find a way to cripple his power base, or put him in such a bad light that the board kicks him out. After all, guys like Cue ball have got to have all kinds of dirty secrets tucked away. Kinds that would get him executed for treason if they ever got out."

Pepper sighed weakly. "You'd have to get on to his personal computer and search the files…"

"Think you could tell me where Obi-Bald Kenobi keeps his personal computer?"

Pepper mumbled incoherently before going silent.

Quill raised an eyebrow and then tapped her head lightly. "Huh… she fell asleep."

* * *

Tony sat, working on the Mk-III when he turned and saw Quill come down the stairs. "Hey, where's Pepper?"

"In a massage coma," Quill replied as he flopped onto the sofa. "She'll be out for a few hours." He grabbed a slice of pizza as he sat down and then turned to Tony. "I see you finally managed to get that armor off. Guess you finally decided to invest in some lubricant. Took a little longer last time. So, what are working on over there?"

Tony reached into the suit and grabbed a part as he answered, "Fixing some of the…" he grunted as he pulled something out with force, "mounting mechanisms. The springs didn't come loose like they were supposed to."

Rocket nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we shoulda used a different material for those."

As he continued working, Tony asked, "So, any of your group good at sneaking?"

"Well…" Quill muttered in thought. "Gamora is a former assassin, and Rocket can travel through air ducts and is great with tech."

"Alright, how 'bout hacking?"

"He got us out of a high security prison with his skills."

Tony turned to Quill with minor incredulousness. "Okay, then, furry. I've got a little mission for you."

Rocket hissed. "It's Rocket you hairless ape."

"Yeah, yeah." He then picked up a flash drive and handed it to Rocket. "I need you to go to my office, hack into the mainframe, and retrieve all of the recent shipping manifests. That flash drive is a lock chip, it'll allow you to get into the main computer. It's probably under executive files. If not, they probably put it on a ghost drive."

Rocket smirked as he tucked the flash drive is his outfit. "No problem at all. I'll get anything and everything." Rocket then turned to Quill, annoyed. "Oh, and, uh, you need to drive… I'm too short…"

"No problem," Quill answered as the two left.

* * *

Quill sat in Stark Industries' main lobby, reading a newspaper, when he heard thumping nearby. He looked down as Rocket crawled out of it, coughing.

"Damn, this place is so dirty," Rocket complained as he handed the flash drive to Quill.

"Yeah, they don't have maintenance scrubbers doing air duct cleaning here," Quill rebutted.

"Now let's get out of here before that cute clerk alerts everyone."

"Huh?"

"Let's go!"

* * *

Quill and Rocket sat in Tony's car, driving back to the latter's house.

"Before we go to him," Rocket interjected, "you really need to see what's on this thing."

"Huh? What do you mean, Rocket?"

Rocket put the flash drive into a tablet and started playing a video, it being the ransom video the Ten Rings had filmed for Tony Stark.

"Oh shit… Wait, what's he saying?"

"Give me a second," Rocket countered, "let me… there."

"You lied to us," the man in the center of the video, a bald man with scars on his face, pronounced bitterly. "You didn't say you were paying us to kidnap Tony Stark."

Quill gulped before exiting the video and perusing the other documents on the drive. "Wait, what the…?" He stopped when he found a blueprint title "Iron Monger". "That… looks awesome." Quill then looked around as he heard his phone ringing. "Hello?"

Pepper answered on the other line, "Hey, do you know where Tony is?"

"Uh, no. He should be at his home, why?"

"I can't find him."

"… Shit. I'll head there immediately. You get somewhere safe. Now. And don't argue."

"Okay…" Pepper answered unsurely.

* * *

Quill and Rocket ran into Tony's house and looked around frantically.

"Tony!" Quill hollered.

"Hey, what about the basement?" Rocket conveyed.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

The two ran down to the basement and found Tony collapsed on the floor, the Arc Reactor missing from his chest.

"Shit!" Quill cursed as he rolled Tony on his side. "Rocket! Get the Arc Reactor out of the Mjolnir!"

"Right!" Rocket countered as he pulled the small Reactor out of the armor and ran it over to Quill.

Quill quickly stuck the Arc Reactor in Tony's chest. "Wake up damn you!"

Tony gasped deeply before grabbing Quill's arm. "Pepper…! Where's… Pepper…?"

Rocket, holding Quill's phone, suddenly imported, "Coulson and Ironhide just picked her up. So she's safe. Probably pissed, but safe."

Quill patted Tony's back as he helped him stand. "Yeah, so don't worry. I'm sure Coulson won't do anything stupid. He's far more level-headed than that Simmons guy."

Rocket stiffened slightly. "Uh… this is probably a bad time to tell you Simmons is with them…"

"Well… shit…"

"Obi…" Tony added, "Obi took the…"

Quill nodded. "Yeah, we thought as much."

"Suit… I need my suit…"

"Yeah. And mine's got no power."

At that moment, Drax walked down into the basement. "Quill, Ironhide gave me this box earlier, he said it's for you."

"Please let it be the plasma cores…" Quill maundered as he opened the box. "Hell yeah! Rocket, get Tony in the Iron Man!"

* * *

Pepper, Coulson, Simmons, and two other Agents sat in Ironhide as they drove.

"So where are we headed exactly?" Pepper asked.

"Stark Industries," Coulson responded, "We've got reliable intel that something foul is happening."

"Ah…"

"I don't know if it's alien related," Simmons interjected, "but considering that kid's been hanging around the place, there's no telling."

* * *

Quill, Tony, Gamora, Groot, Drax, and Rocket sat in Tony's car, making their way to Stark Industries.

"You didn't need to come, you know," Quill remarked.

"And let you have all the fun?" Gamora retorted with a smirk.

"Right," Quill shot back with a smirk. Quill then turned to Tony and questioned, "So, you got a plan?"

"Yeah," Tony answered shortly, "stop Obi."

"So rush in and blast stuff."

"Bingo."

Quill smirked but then looked ahead and saw Ironhide and several S.H.I.E.L.D. SUVs parked outside of Stark Industries. "Wait… those are S.H.I.E.L.D. cars. Why are they here? And that's Iron –"

Quill's words were cut short as Ironhide instantly transformed and fired his Magma Frag Launcher at the group.

"What the hell has gotten into –?!" Tony shouted before his car suddenly drove forward.

"Get out of the car!" Ironhide clamored.

Tony, Quill, and the others responded instantly by jumping from the sleek vehicle before it transformed and slammed through the wall.

"Well…" Quill muttered, "looks like you and I have the same taste in cars, Tony."

One of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents then came flying out of the building.

"Oh don't tell me that walking tank is done…"

A large humanoid armor then flew up out of the building before landing in front of the group, standing over two and a half meters tall.

"… Think we can build some of those after we kill baldy?"

"We need to deal with Sideways first!" Ironhide urged.

"Yeah," Quill replied as he readied his Spartan Laser and Tony raised his Repulsors.

"Ah, ah, ah," Obadiah taunted from within his armor as he held up an unconscious Pepper.

"Pepper!" Quill hollered angrily.

"Good. Now stand there so I can kill you all."

Sideways smashed through a wall and stood behind Obadiah. "I hope you appreciate the help we gave you, human."

Obadiah huffed in annoyance. "Right."

Quill turned to Tony. "He builds a better suit than you."

Tony waved a finger. "He cheated, so it doesn't count."

"Define cheated."

"He had help from giant alien – look out!" Tony interjected as Sideways fired at them. "Hey! We're trying to have a conversation here!"

Obadiah grumbled as he readied a minigun. "Just do me a favor and die, Tony."

"I don't think so," Tony rebutted before flying up into the air and then slamming down at Obadiah, smashing through the ground and to the streets below.

"Whoa!" Quill grunted as he dove and caught Pepper.

Sideways growled as he armed his Neutron Assault Rifle.

"Nice, Tony, take the easy one." Quill then saw Coulson and threw a rock at him. "You dumbass!"

Coulson rubbed his head in pain. "Okay, I admit it, my bad."

"Your very bad you idiot! You know Simmons is bad luck!"

Simmons huffed indignantly. "Me!? You're the alien bad news magnet!"

Quill turned to Pepper as she woke up and set her down. "You alright, Pep?"

Pepper nodded with mild shakiness. "Er, yeah, I'm okay. Just a little shaken up."

"Enough talking!" Ironhide interrupted. "I can handle Sideways, you go deal with that human."

Quill nodded with a smirk. "Take care Ol' Ironside!" Quill and the others jumped down at Obadiah.

"It's Ironhide! And I'm not that old!" Ironhide grumbled before turning and socking Sideways in the jaw as he charged.

Quill took off into the air to pursue Tony and Obadiah with Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Rocket following close behind.

"Man… think once this is over I can get the dead man's suit?" Rocket questioned.

"If there's anything left," Quill retorted.

However, just as they were about to jump, Tony came flying up over the side and hit the ground, hard, before Obadiah flew up and landed on a nearby balcony. The helmet opened as Obadiah looked at Tony confidently. "For thirty years I've held you up. Built this company from nothing. I won't let anything destroy it." A missile launcher then folded up from his shoulder. "Least of all you."

Quill fired a shot at the missile, causing it to explode in Obadiah's face.

Obadiah chuckled condescendingly. "Ooh, I think I almost felt that one."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Baldy."

"It's time you –!" Tony shouted only to get silenced from getting hit by a motorcycle.

"Why you –!" Quill began only for Ironhide, whom had been thrown by Sideways, to slam into him. "Ow… did you really have to hit me with him…?"

"Would you have preferred this?" Obadiah taunted as he readied another missile launcher.

"No, not really," Quill retorted before firing a pistol into the barrel, causing it to explode.

"Hu –?" Obadiah grunted before it exploded right next to him.

"Guess Baldy's not so smart. He kinda walked into that one." Quill received a punch to the face from Obadiah for his comment.

"I always did hate foreigners."

"Hey! I'll have you know I was born in the good ol' US of A Obi-Bald Kenobi. I just… spent a couple decades living on… other, planets. Oh, and uh, look down."

Obadiah glanced down just in time to watch Groot's vines crush the right foot of his Iron Monger.

"Now look up."

Tony leapt up onto Obadiah's back and grabbed a large piston jutting out of it. "This looks important!" With one powerful tug he ripped the piston off, causing the Iron Monger's arm to go limp.

* * *

Ironhide fired multiple shots from his Magma Frag Launcher at Sideways, who rolled under the shots, causing them to hit the building behind him and explode violently. "He's not going to be happy."

Sideways rolled to his feet and fired back with his Neutron Assault Rifle.

Ironhide picked up a car to block Sideways' shots and then threw it at the Decepticon, who sliced through it with his sawblades before charging at Ironhide.

Ironhide swung his arm forward, catching Sideways on the neck and causing him to tumble to the ground before kicking at the Decepticon, sending him over the railing and onto a bus below. Ironhide immediately jumped after Sideways and fired a shot at him, the massive explosion sending Sideways hurtling at a wall.

Sideways growled as he stood. "You Autobots certainly have a knack for getting in the way."

Ironhide huffed in amusement. "And you 'Cons just never learn."

"I'll chop you into pieces!" Sideways howled as he charged at Ironhide, only to get hit in the head by Tony, thrown by Obadiah, knocking the Decepticon to the ground.

Tony groaned as he hit the ground. "Ooww…"

"You know…" Quill mumbled, "you really suck at this."

Tony groaned before raising his middle finger at Quill. After a moment he stood up and then flew over towards Obadiah. "You want me? Come and get me."

Obadiah chuckled in amusement. "Ha, so you can fly? My armor's got a few tricks too!" Large thrusters the folded out of the legs of his armor.

"Sir, it seems he can fly," JARVIS noted.

"Uuhh, I can see that," Tony replied.

"Think that suit can take a little icing?" Quill asked through the radio.

Tony smirked confidently. "Doubt it." Tony then shot off into the air, Obadiah shortly behind him.

* * *

Ironhide turned his attention away from the others and back to his opponent, but looked around curiously, unable to find Sideways. "Huh… guess I'll help the others then." Ironhide leapt up to the overhead area at the same moment Obadiah, his armor covered in ice, slammed into the ground. "Huh… guess I'm not needed."

Quill turned as Tony landed nearby. "You alright Tony?"

Tony groaned slightly as he pulled one of the Iron Man's gloves off. "I'm almost out of power. I've gotta get out of this thing."

"Ah. Let me he – Tony, run!"

Tony turned as Obadiah stood behind him. "Eat thi -!" Tony shouted as he raised a hand to fire, forgetting he had pulled the glove off.

Obadiah snickered and grabbed Tony with his Iron Monger and began to slowly crush Tony's suit. "You know, I've never had a taste for this sort of thing. But I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit." Obadiah then felt a tap on his helmet and turned to see Ironhide standing behind him, towering over his suit. "Aw sh –" Obadiah began before getting backhanded by Ironhide, sending him flying.

Quill whistled lightly. "Now _that_ was a bitch slap."

Obadiah snarled as he stood up. "You think that'll do me in!?"

"No, but this will," Ironhide added as he fired his Magma Frag Launcher at Obadiah, blasting a hole in the Iron Monger's chest and sending it flying.

"Say bye-bye, bitch," Quill taunted as he raised the Spartan Laser and aimed for the exposed miniature Arc Reactor.

"No, no, wai –!" Obadiah pleaded before getting silenced by a shot from the Spartan Laser, the explosion vaporizing him and his armor instantly as the beam overloaded the suit's reactor.

Quill smirked. "Now _that_ was an explosion."

Rocket growled in frustration. "Oh, come on! Now there's nothing left of it!"

"Well… there might be spares."

Tony sighed. "That's one problem solved. Now… for the other one…"

"What problem?"

Tony reached up weakly and tapped on his chest. "This… hunk of…" he trailed off before collapsing.

* * *

Tony groaned as he sat up in his lab.

"I don't know how long it will last," Quill noted as Tony awoke, "but I managed to recharge your reactor just a bit. Should be long enough for you to build another one."

With a grunt, Tony replied, "If… if you can get me some palladium I'll be golden."

"Should be easy enough."

Tony turned to Quill incredulously. "I don't know about the other planets you've been to kid, but on this one, palladium is rare enough people fight wars over it."

Quill shrugged. "I think we've got a few cratefusl on the Milano II… don't we?"

Rocket nodded. "We do."

"Huh…" Tony mumbled. "Well get me forty-five point four grams of it and I'll be set."

"Consider it done."

* * *

Tony turned as Quill, Rocket, and Groot walked in with a large crate filled with silvery metal. Looking at the crate in awe, Tony dropped his screwdriver. "You… _do_ know what a gram is… right…?" Tony walked over to the crate and picked up a piece of the metal slightly larger than a marble. "That's all I need for the mini Arc Reactor."

"Ah…" Quill muttered as he looked at the crate of palladium. "Hey… mind if I –?"

"I don't but if you sell it you'll be in trouble. Got it?"

With a nod, Quill answered, "Wouldn't dream of it. Only noble-ish client that would've bought it is S.H.I.E.L.D. and they wouldn't pay enough to make it worth my while."

"Then get to work. I said you could have one, I didn't say I'd make it for you."

* * *

Quill hummed to himself as he looked at his completed miniature Arc Reactor.

Tony took the device from his hand and looked it over for a moment before tossing it back. "Not bad. Though unfortunately, due to the way your suit draws power, I'd say you've got a maximum operating time of four hours before that device needs recharging."

Quill sighed with frustration. "Yeah, I know. I don't know what ancient civilization designed that power armor but they did know how to make a beastly armor at the very least."

Tony shrugged as Quill put the device into the Mjolnir armor. "Well, could be worse."

Rocket sighed. "You know it's never a good idea to say that, right?"

"Ah… well I –" Tony was interrupted as his phone started ringing. "Hello? Pepper? What's up? … Wait, who wants to meet? … Uh… okay. Yeah, yeah, I'll head out in a bit."

Quill furrowed his brow in thought. "Something wrong?"

Tony shrugged. "General 'Thunderbolt' Ross wants to meet with me. Says he's got a monster problem."

"Monster problem? So long as it ain't another unstoppable, radioactive dragon, I'm in."

"Then let's go. We can take my private jet."

"Cool. I'll load Mjolnir."

* * *

Quill looked around the cabin of the jet in surprise. "Now _this_ is high class."

Tony smirked as he sat on one of the seats. "Of course it is. I _am_ the richest man on Earth." With a sigh as he drank a scotch, he added, "Almost."

"Yeah. It helps that McKinley is now behind bars with every asset he owns, or I guess owned, gone."

"Yup."

"Bleh!" Rocket wretched as he sipped a beer. "This Terran alcohol is awful."

"That's because it's not the strong stuff," Quill elucidated.

"Tch, whatever you say."

The pilot then called out to Tony, "Sir, we've got an unidentified craft approaching from above."

The group then heard knocking on the door of the jet.

"Uuhh…" Quill mumbled before turning to Groot. "You get it."

Groot shook his head in response. "I am Groot."

"I don't care, you get it!"

Groot groaned and opened the door, which allowed Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and Lady Jaye to enter the plane.

Tony gaped slightly. "Wait… you… how… why…?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. tech," Quill explained simply.

"Ah…"

He then turned to Scarlett and asked, "So why are you here?"

"Fury heard about your little monster hunting expedition," Scarlett began, "and so he dispatched a team to aid you. And considering the Joes have gone after, albeit unsuccessfully, the target you're after, he sent us."

"Nice. So, what is it? Not a giant, green, unstoppable, radioactive dragon I hope."

Scarlett shook her head. "No. A giant, green, unstoppable, radioactive man."

"Ah…"

Jaye put a file down on a table and the others began looking through it. "Name's Bruce Banner. A scientist studying gamma radiation. Ended up blasting himself with it for god knows why. Mutated him into a monster designated Hulk. Three meters tall, bulletproof skin, strong enough to lift a tank, and mental faculties operate on little more than pure blind rage."

"Sounds like Quill," Rocket cracked. "Except, you know, he's not that big."

"Heh," Quill snickered, "depends on what you're measuring."

Gamora sighed heavily.

Jaye narrowed her eyes in irritation. "When he's Banner, he's relatively nice and normal. The problem is that when he gets too excited, more specifically his heart rate gets too high, he undergoes the transformation and becomes the Hulk. All forms of higher thinking and rational thought go out the window. All he has left is rage and he keeps swinging until he calms down."

Quill scratched his head in thought. "So you all automatically think it's a _good_ idea to chase after him armed with all kinds of guns."

"Well we certainly can't take him one-on-one," Scarlett interjected.

"He's a danger to everyone around him," Jaye added. "Plus, General Ross has this idea in his head that the Hulk is government property."

Quill sighed heavily. "Oh boy… oh I can tell where this is going… and I don't like it. Not a bit."

"Well whether you like it or not," Scarlett interjected, "General Ross has asked us to go and find then capture Banner."

"This is going to blow up in our faces. I can just tell."

Jaye puffed in vexation. "If you don't like it you're welcome to go back home crying to mama."

Quill narrowed his eyes angrily at Jaye's remark. "You leave her out of this."

"Why? Don't like it when people push your buttons?"

Quill stood up, ready to strike at her, only for Gamora to stand in front of him. "Peter, it's not worth it, let it go."

Quill huffed before sitting back down.

"After all, she's just mad that no man will go within ten feet of her."

"What'd you say?" Jaye challenged, only to find a blade at her throat.

"Go ahead, I've been feeling bored."

Groot glanced at Snake Eyes. "I am Groot."

Snake Eyes nodded in agreement before stepping between the two and pushing them apart.

Quill groaned in disappointment. "Aw, c'mon man, you never break up a catfight!"

"Man's got a point," Tony added in agreement.

Drax furrowed his brow in thought. "There were cats fighting?"

"Go back to sleep," Tony said blandly.

Drax frowned in confusion. "I was not sleeping."

Tony groaned in frustration. "For the love of god would someone give the man a joke book?"

* * *

After Tony's plane landed at a military base, the group made their way inside where they met General Ross, a tall, white-haired, older man with a stern face.

Ross turned to the group and frowned in disappointment. "I asked for a special forces unit, not a bunch of trick-or-treaters and their pet squirrel."

Rocket was not happy about being insulted so blatantly. "You did _not_ just call me a squirrel!"

Ross turned to Tony questioningly. "Just what kind of experiments have you been running, Stark?"

"These guys aren't experiments," Tony corrected. "I stick to machines, anyway. They're aliens."

Ross remained silent for a moment processing the information before laughing loudly in annoyance and disbelief.

"Guess he doesn't believe, huh?" Quill asked.

Bumblebee drove up to the area before transforming into robot mode. "Sorry for the delay, Peter. I'm here to aid in this mission as well."

"Ah. It's okay, Bee. We were just talking to the old man."

Ross frowned in confusion. "… They're still weird."

"Not even half as weird as most of the galaxy."

Ignoring Quill's comments, Ross reassumed his leader's stature. "I assume you've all been briefed on the target?"

"Yeah. Miniature, human Godzilla."

Ross narrowed his eyes, he had no idea how Quill knew of such a secret. Deciding it was best not to argue, he sighed and turned his attention elsewhere. "Captain Blonsky! Get your ass out here, soldier!"

"Who?" Quill asked, amused by the name.

Emil Blonsky, a tall man with short blonde hair wearing black combat gear walked up to the group accompanied by several other soldiers. "Apologies, sir, I was prepping the team for combat." Emil then looked to the side at Quill's team. "Who're these yanks?"

Quill huffed in annoyance, unhappy about the term. "The better team."

Emil puffed in derision. "Right… by the team you sideshow freaks get involved I'll already be done. So why don't you yobbos go back home?"

Drax furrowed his brow in confusion. "What's a yobbo?"

Quill waved a hand dismissively. "Ignore the tea-drinker. He's just salty that he hasn't gotten to praise the queen the mandatory hundred times."

"You'd better watch that mouth of yours, lad," Emil threatened, miffed at Quill's attitude. "If you don't, I'll shut it for you."

"Try me girl scout."

Emil smirked in amusement, he had yet to stretch his muscles for the day, and it seemed like he would get that chance. "You've got quite the bravado, lad, I'll give you that. But you're the type that isn't up to much beyond chest-puffing to get some loose bitches on yo –"

Quill immediately retaliated by punching Emil in the face, sending him sailing across the small courtyard. "I'm sorry, what was that? I'm pretty sure you said something stupid at the end there."

Emil stood, wiping blood from his chin before raising his fists for a fight. "You just started something you're gonna wish you hadn't, boy." Emil charged and swing at Quill.

Quill swiftly and instantly dashed around Emil, moving around his punch, before hitting the blonde in the gut, folding him like a lawn chair, before kicking his leg out and continuing his punch, hoisting Emil in the air before pounding him against the ground. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Scarlett sighed and moved to interrupt the fight but was stopped by Ross.

"I want to see how this goes," Ross explained, curious about Quill's limits. "I'll stop it before they kill each other."

"Eighty Credits on Quill," Rocket wagered.

Tony smirked in amusement, enjoying a good bet. "If fish and chips wins I'll build you a mini Arc Reactor."

Rocket gaped slightly in disbelief. He could not let that chance slip by! "Kick his ass, Blonsky!"

Quill slumped and then turned to Rocket. "Really, dude?"

Emil took advantage of the moment and swung hard at Quill's back, knocking him to the ground with a blow to the head.

Quill stood, annoyance painting his face. "Oh it's like that, huh?"

Emil smirked as he raised his fists. "All's fair in love and war. That's what you yanks say, isn't it?"

"Fine then. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Emil lunged at Quill only for the latter to raise a foot and slam it into Emil's abdomen, sending the man hurtling end-over-end before rushing forward, jumping up, and them slamming his foot down on the airborne man, planting him into the ground hard enough to form a crater. "We're done here." With his victory in hand and Emil unconscious, Quill walked away.

Rocket hissed in frustration. "Well there goes that Arc Reactor."

* * *

"Okay, all of my equipment seems in order," Quill noted as he looked over his suit and weapons.

"Okay, listen up everyone!" Ross called. "We're heading to Sal Palo, Brazil. That's where the target is located."

"Sounds fun. I'll be sure to grab some exotic fruits."

"Don't engage until you're absolutely sure you have a knockout shot. If he so much as thinks he sees you he'll be a ghost."

"Is he a fighter?" Emil asked, a bandage over his nose.

Ross frowned in irritation. "Your target is a fugitive from the U.S. government who stole military secrets. He is also implicated in the deaths of two scientists, a military officer, an Idaho state trooper, and possibly two Canadian runners so _don't_ wait to see if he's a fighter! Tranq him and bring him back."

"Got it," Quill muttered in thought, "so go with the stun gun on my pistols."

"No. Your group," Ross paused and pointed to Quill, Tony, Gamora, Drax, and the others, "is the back up in case this bastard goes green. If he does, I authorize you to use anything and everything to take him down."

"Understood. I'll be waiting in my suit for when Mr. Tea-and-Crumpets screws up."

* * *

Quill sat quietly, his suit inactive inside a van the others were hiding in.

"This thing's a little…" Tony grumbled as he attempted to make room for himself in the confined space, "tight, don'tcha think?"

"I'm not the one who built it," Quill retorted.

Suddenly, Emil shouted through the radio, "We've been made! We're in pursuit!"

Ross slammed a fist in frustration. "Son of a…! Go, go, go! Don't lose him!"

Quill stretched his muscles in preparation. "Sounds like my jam's comin' on."

"Then get your ass moving! We can't afford to lose him!"

"Righto. Me and Mjolnir are off!" Quill exclaimed before jumping out of the van as it took off.

"That's my cue," Tony added as he too leapt out.

As Tony flew over the area he saw a man running down on the streets below. "Red hoodie, yellow backpack. That him?"

"Yes!" Emil shouted through the radio franticly. "Tag him!"

"I've got a lock."

However, right as Tony said that, the man ducked into a small house with several meters of clothesline behind it.

"He went into a house…"

"I can see that, smartass!" Emil shot back angrily.

"Watch out for the bucket."

"What buck –?!" Emil asked before running headfirst into a hanging bucket.

"Told you."

"He just left the house and his heading into a factory," Quill related.

"And he's got what look like some thugs following after him."

"Well… that's not good. I'm heading in Tony, you're look out."

"Works for me. I just painted this thing."

"Bee!" Quill shouted as he leapt over the high concrete wall. "Find another entrance and get in here!"

* * *

Quill ran inside the factory, meeting up with Emil's team. "Oh, hey guys. Find him yet?"

Emil frowned in annoyance. "What do you think? Split up! Find him! Tranq him before he does… whatever it is the General's worried about him doing!"

"Right… Also, we may have a bit of a complication due to locals aggravating him."

Suddenly a man in a blue shirt came flying from the opposite end of the factory and slammed into the nearby wall.

"Uuhh… General… I think we've got a Code Green…"

The factory was then filled with a loud, angry howl.

One of the soldiers slipped his night-vision goggles on and saw an object moving through the factory. "Sir! We've got an unknown bogie in here!"

"That _is_ the target!" Ross bellowed over the radio. "Use every tranquilizer you've got! Take him down! Get that Camaro in there!"

"Camaro?" Quill asked in amusement, "We don't need no Camaro!" He immediately leapt down and charged at the target only to get sent sailing by a punch.

Quill groaned as he sat up. "Well… that felt awesome."

Emil and his men charged at the creature, firing hundreds of tranquilizer rounds at it, only for them to bounce off.

Quill stood up and charged back at the creature, firing his assault rifle as he did. "Not getting away this time!"

The creature growled, crossing its arms as he charged, before reaching out to grab him, only for Quill to leap over his head.

As Quill landed he kicked at the creature's legs, causing it to stumble to the ground.

The creature, however, swiftly and immediately got back to its feet, grabbed a large tank, and threw it at Quill.

"Go live! Go live!" one of the other soldiers shouted, resulting in him, Emil, and the others switching out their tranquilizer rounds for standard ammunition.

Quill swiftly ducked under the tank and returned fire to the creature, not fazing it at all. "Oh come on…! Bee!"

Bumblebee immediately smashed through the wall to the factory and transformed, dropping Gamora and the others, before charging at the creature, standing more than a meter taller than it.

However, the creature roared and then jumped at Bumblebee, knocking him to the ground and hitting him with multiple blows to the head before lifting him over its head and sending him sailing, trashing much of the factory. It then grabbed a forklift nearby and tossed it through a wall, allowing it to escape outside.

"Huh…" Quill mumbled as he walked over to Bumblebee. "That could've gone better."

"No, no!" Ross shouted through the radio. "We can't lose him!"

* * *

"I've got eyes on him!" Tony explained as he flew over the green beast.

The creature stopped before looking up at Tony.

"Oohh crap…"

It then grabbed a motorcycle and threw it up at Tony.

Tony groaned after hitting the ground. "I, uh… I lost contact…"

"Dammit!" Ross howled angrily.

"Well…" Quill muttered, "at least no one died. That's something."

* * *

Ross sighed heavily as he sat with Quill and the others. "I can't believe this. I break my back to bring you people and that alien robot all the way down here and you _still_ couldn't catch him!?"

"He wasn't alone, sir," Emil interjected. "Some… thing. Some kind of creature showed up and attacked us."

"Really?" Quill questioned. "Seemed pretty alone to me."

"That _was_ Banner, Blonsky," Ross corrected.

"… What?" Emil asked in confusion.

" _That_ … was Banner."

Quill raised an eyebrow in confusion. "… Wait. Bosco here didn't read the intel file on him?"

Emil narrowed his eyes. "What intel? We weren't given any!"

"Wow…" Quill pulled out a flash drive. "Here. I'll let you borrow the one they passed out to me."

Ross grabbed the flash drive before Emil could take it and threw it out the window.

Gamora then stepped in with a newspaper clipping that had an image of a woman with long brown hair on it. "Who's this? It was in the bag he dropped. Accomplice?"

Quill leaned over and looked at the clipping curiously. "Ex-girlfriend maybe? Think she still has any connections to him?"

Ross took the photo and gazed at it for several moments before crumpling it. "She… is no longer a factor. He's completely alone."

"Right… So, what do you think he'll do next? Because if I was him and I had a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome I'd be trying to cure myself of it."

Ross stood silent for a moment before his eyes widened. "That son of a bitch…"

"What?"

"I won't let him take it from me. We need to find him!"

* * *

"So I hear you lost our little green man," Fury remarked as Quill entered the Triskelion.

"Not so little green man, Mon Capitan," Quill rebuffed.

Fury chuckled slightly. "Right. So, what'd you think of your first S.H.I.E.L.D. op?"

"Fun. Painful." Quill glanced to the side as he heard the door open and watched as a woman with long, curly red hair and green eyes, wearing a tight black leather outfit walked into the room. "And just got better…"

"This is Natasha Romanoff, codename Black Widow. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best spy."

"Nice…"

Natasha shot Quill a minute smirk before turning her attention to Fury. "Sir, the target is currently in custody."

"Good work," Fury answered with a smirk.

"You know, it's not exactly easy to catch someone like Banner," Quill remarked with a mild sigh, "when he goes all muscle due to some thugs."

"You didn't tell us he would be that powerful," Gamora added with a frown.

Fury stayed silent in thought. "I didn't think I needed to," he mentioned as he glanced at Scarlett's group.

"He was stronger than last time," Scarlett explained.

"Really?" Quill asked. "Must've been really pissed off then."

"Sir!" one of the other agents in the room suddenly exclaimed. "We've got an Energon signal, a big one."

Fury narrowed his eye suspiciously. "From where?"

The agent gulped. "F – From… orbit, sir."

Quill raised an eyebrow. "Uuhh… think that's a good thing?"

"They're with us," Optimus eased.

"Reinforcements?"

Optimus nodded. "Yes. Approximately five cycles ago I sent a signal to all remaining Autobots in the galaxy, telling them of our new home. The nearest group was the Xanthium, one of the five Capital Ships that fled from Cyberton."

Quill whistled fascination. "A Capital Ship, huh? Those things must pack a lot of firepower."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "They do."

"Sweet! We can probably use it to be a mobile S.H.I.E.L.D. fortress."

"Sir," the agent interjected, "it's entering out atmosphere."

Fury sighed and then turned to Optimus. "Prime, direct them to the Triskelion. If this blows up in our face it's your tailpipe on the chopping block."

Optimus nodded in understanding.

* * *

Quill stood on one of the Triskelion's many balconies as the Xanthium, a massive, grey ship far larger than a Nimitz-Class, descended through to an underground landing area. With a whistle of awe, Quill remarked, "Damn that's a fine ship."

Rocket nodded in accession. "The Milano II could probably fit inside of it…"

Groot looked at the ship curiously. "I am Groot."

Quill nodded. "Yeah, I bet an entire squadron of Nova fighters could easily fit in it, too."

"Let's go meet our new off world allies," Fury directed.

"Right behind you."

* * *

As Quill, Optimus, Fury, Gamora, and the others walked up to the Xanthium, Quill gulped, looking over the craft's massive size.

"Man… it's bigger than I thought…" Quill muttered.

At that moment, two four and a half meter tall Autobots, one silver, one ivory, jumped from the Xanthium.

The silver one walked up to Optimus, standing just half his size. "No wek oeih tajkhojj succ, Optimus."

Optimus put a hand up to him. "Ro badt ke eih suhowalohj, Sideswipe. Ijo kxoah cudwiuwo."

The silver Autobot, Sideswipe, nodded before his eyes darted around for a moment. "As you command, Optimus."

"Whoa, whoa," Quill interceded, "you speak English now?"

The ivory Autobot, whose appearance was nearly identical to Sideswipe's, walked up and explained, "We used your planet's information network. The World Wide Web. Ah, and my name is Sunstreaker." Sunstreaker then put an arm over Sideswipe's shoulder. "And this idiot is my brother Sideswipe."

Sideswipe pushed Sunstreaker away. "Very funny. I could kick your bumper and you know it."

Another Autobot, resembling Ratchet with a lighter shade of green, approached the group. "This planet is… rocky."

"It's an organic planet that isn't overly developed," Quill elucidated.

"Ah."

"So who are you supposed to be?"

"My name is Red Alert."

"I like this planet," a four and a half meter tall, blue Autobot remarked. "Oh, and you can call me Jolt."

"Glad to hear it's nice and cozy," Fury commented.

The others stepped aside as an Autobot who resembled Optimus, but was over twelve meters tall with large thrusters on his back and whose body was blue and white, stepped toward them. "I am glad you found this planet for us to inhabit, Optimus."

Optimus stepped towards the larger Autobot and bowed.

"Brother of yours, Optimus?" Quill asked in thought.

Optimus shook his head in response. "No. This is the Autobots' Commander-in-Chief, Ultra Magnus. I merely lead this regiment of Autobots."

"Whoa… so he's the Big Boss, huh?"

Optimus blinked in confusion. "Erm… yes… I suppose."

"Nice…" Quill muttered with a smirk.

Magnus then motioned to Optimus. "Why don't you show us our new home, Optimus? And give us some modes we can use to traverse this planet without causing too large a disturbance."

Optimus nodded and bowed slightly. "Right this way."

* * *

 **And there you have it, folks. The fifth chapter of Guardians of Earth. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. If you did, be sure to post a review letting me know. If you are confused or unsure about anything or just have any questions do not forget to post them as well, I will do my best to address them within the constraints of a reviewer response. If you did not enjoy the chapter, post a review if you have something constructive to say, though I would suggest instead that you head out and do something you actually enjoy instead. I have nothing else to add here, so until the next time I upload a chapter to something, buh-bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

 **Yes, I know. It is that time again. Time for yet another chapter of Guardians of Earth. I certainly hope you people are not getting bored with the story, since most of you are not reviewing. But I am impassioned about it at the moment so I will keep going for the time being. That said, I still hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter. I also hope you all enjoy this chapter. As usual, I would like to thank my coauthor, Bakuto Masaki, for his continued help with this story. Might as well move on to the reviewer responses, no? There are not many but there are enough.**

 **superpeirce: True, they don't. But if you've read any of my stories you'd know that harems are pretty much my bread and butter. So even in a story like this the MC is going to have a harem. Believe it or not, the MC was originally going to be Duke, that's why there's so much focus on him at first. But that changed as soon as I saw Guardians of the Galaxy. And yes, Duke and Tony would be left out in terms of relationship but they're side characters. Side characters, at least in harem stories, often don't get relationships. And that's usually how it goes in my stories as well. I may reconsider if the need comes to me, but as of now, Quill _is_ going to have a harem and Ana will most likely be part of it.**

 **And that does it for the reviewer responses. Time to move on to the main event.**

* * *

Quill groaned as he sat near two, three-meter-tall Autobots with enlarged arms.

"This is my car, Mudflap!" the green one of the two, with large buck teeth, argued.

"Back off Skids, you uglybumper motherslagger!" Mudflap snarled.

Skids gaped in confusion. "Ugly?! We got the same face you moron!"

Quill sighed again. "Oh come on, why not just go with the same damn car with different colors?"

Cliffjumper walked up to the group and dropped a bright, dirty, rusty, pink and white ice cream van in front of the duo.

"Huh. That works too."

The two Autobot scanned the vehicle curiously before transforming. However, neither transformed into the entirety of the vehicle, merely one half, with Mudflap forming the back half and Skids forming the front half.

"Oh come on!" Mudflap shouted in irritation.

Bumblebee silently walked up and kicked the transformed Mudflap against the back half of Skids, causing them to combine into a singular vehicle.

Quill, however, fell over in his chair laughing.

"That hurt, man!" Skids groaned.

"I don't wanna hear it!" Mudflap argued. "My head's up yo' tailpipe!"

Quill continued laughing, even harder than before.

"Keep it up and I'll bust a cap in yo' bumper!" Skids threatened.

Calming his laughter slightly, Quill wiped a tear from his eye. "S – Sorry… just… too funny, man…"

The twins then separated and transformed into individual robot modes, at which point Skids immediately collapsed, laughing hysterically.

"There somethin' wrong?" Mudflap challenged, annoyed.

Speaking through his laughter, Skids explained, "Y – You got a… a light-up turd on yo' head!"

Mudflap blinked and then looked up, seeing the ice cream truck's illuminated ice cream scoop on his back. "Aw, what the pit!? It's just an ice cream scoop, dude!"

Quill, belting laughter to the point of his face matching his coat, added, "No… no, _that_ is _definitely_ a turd!"

"What'd you say!? I will bust you up white boy!"

Quill merely smirked and raised his fists. "Try me, Muddy."

"Enough!" Optimus shouted as he and Magnus walked into the room, the former being quite irritated.

Skids and Mudflap immediately ceased their bickering.

A nine-meter-tall, yellow Autobot with pointed shoulders, and several long pieces resembling a cape hanging off of his back, walked up to the others and sighed. "My apologies. By the end of the war we had to accept just about anyone will to join our cause."

Quill waved a hand dismissively. "It's cool, Zeta. Everyone has their quirks. It's what makes life worth living."

Optimus sighed before turning to Zeta. "Zeta Prime, did you ever locate your brother, Sentinel, during your travels?"

Zeta shook his head remorsefully. "No. We never managed to locate him or the Ark he left with."

A rather rotund, green, six-meter-tall Autobot with a bullet in his mouth like a cigar walked up to the others with frustration. "So are we finally gonna find some Decepticons to shoot? I've spent centicycles without shooting something and my trigger digit's getting itchy."

"That is enough, Hound," Optimus argued. "We have enough carnage on this planet as is."

Quill nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Besides, tall, dark, and gruesome has a big hole in his chest now and is resting at the bottom of the ocean."

Hound moaned in disappointment. "Can I shoot _something_?"

Quill shrugged. "The Hulk, Godzilla, any stray Decepticons, terrorists."

Hound readied a Neutron Assault Rifle and smirked. "You find 'em, I'll shoot 'em."

Optimus pushed the trigger-happy Autobot's gun down with frustration. "What is _with_ you?!"

Hound huffed lightly. "Hey, I'm a soldier. I fight the bad guys."

"Oh really?" Ironhide challenged as he walked up to the green Autobot. "I wouldn't necessarily call that fighting. Looks to me more like you're hitting them with soft kisses."

Hound puffed gruffly. "That so?" Raising his gun towards Ironhide, he challenged, "Want me to blow a couple hundred 'kisses' your way you old pile of rust?"

"Can those sticky manipulators of yours even hold a gun properly you walking marble?"

The two stood silently for a moment before smirking and shaking hands.

"Good to see you again, Ironhide."

Ironhide nodded in agreement.

"Okay…" Quill mumbled in confusion. "What was that…?"

Bumblebee shrugged. "No idea."

Another Autobot, with wires sticking out of his head like hair, stood nearby, looking at Quill's Mjolnir armor. "Hohoh, I haven't seen one o' these puppies in over three hundred cycles."

"Hey!" Quill shouted as he ran over to the Autobot. "That's my armor!"

The Autobot turned to him curiously. "Hm? It's yours? Are you a Krill?"

Quill raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, no. Why?"

"Oh. Ah, my name is Wheeljack, I'm the Autobots' head scientist and inventor. Ironhide calls me Q."

"Ah… good to know. I think."

Wheeljack continued looking at Quill's armor in thought. "A little… primitive, though."

Quill tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? What's primitive?"

"Your armor," Wheeljack noted, pointing at the Mjolnir Mk-VI.

Quill huffed lightly. "Hey, I found the schematics for it off some old computer left by some ancient civilization and had it made here with Terran tech at Stark Industries."

Wheeljack hummed in thought. "How about I help you make it a little more, how do you say, badass?"

Quill smirked. "I'm always up for an upgrade." He then remained in silent thought for a moment before adding, "How good are you with Augs?"

"Augs? Do you mean augmentations? I'm not that experienced working with organic life but I'm sure I can 'wing it'."

Quill gave a light thumbs up. "Cool. Because I _seriously_ need to get some EMP shielding in. Never got around to buying that. I do know it's connected to my subdermal armor though."

"Ah, now _that_ I can do for sure!"

"Sweet. Don't want to get knocked down again by an electrical surge."

Wheeljack laughed lightly. "Nasty things, aren't they?"

Quill sighed with exhaustion. "You have no idea. Although… maybe you do."

Wheeljack twitched lightly as his head sparked.

"Ah… thought so."

* * *

Quill was lying on a metal table with Wheeljack crouched over him.

"Okay," Wheeljack began as he flexed his metal fingers, "let's get to work on those augmentations."

Quill nodded in agreement.

"First, let's take a look at them." Two large lenses folded over his eyes like glasses. "Hhmm… query. Who installed your augmentations?"

Quill raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You should get your money back."

Quill flattened his brow in annoyance. "Wwwhhhyyy…?"

"These parts are subpar at best and they're so poorly integrated with your body I'm amazed they haven't just fallen out yet. But it's nothing I can't fix!" Wheeljack's fingers then began to divide in half, once at the first knuckle, twice at the second knuckle, and four times at the last knuckle, leaving him with a total of eighty individual pointers.

Quill gulped in worry. "Oh dear…"

* * *

Fury looked over the Xanthium from a raised platform in thought as Optimus walked up to him. "Prime, I hope you got some plan on where to put all these new friends of yours."

Optimus turned to Fury and explained, "Unless you have an objection, Director, I was intending on placing them here, in the Triskelion, with the rest of us."

Fury stood silently for a moment. "No, it's fine."

* * *

Quill groaned heavily as he sat in a chair.

Rocket turned to Gamora curiously. "What's with him?"

Gamora shook her head. "I'm not sure."

"Surgery…" Quill mumbled with a pained gasp.

"Well don't worry," Wheeljack started as he walked over, "the pain should go away soon."

"Good…"

"Q!" Ironhide shouted. "Fury wants you over with their Jaeger things."

Wheeljack nodded. "Right. I'll be there momentarily."

* * *

Fury pointed to the heavily damaged remains of Gipsy Danger and then turned to Wheeljack. "Can you fix her?"

Wheeljack looked over the wreckage and then nodded. "Of course. It should be simple enough. Though, what caused this much damage?"

"A giant, radioactive reptile codenamed Godzilla," Coulson explained.

"Ah. Sounds like that beasty Megatron unleashed back on Cybertron during the war. Trypticon I think it was."

Fury frowned slightly. "I hope they still don't have that damn thing then."

"He was destroyed during the war," Optimus eased.

"Good."

Wheeljack hummed in thought as he looked at a computer nearby.

"What's wrong?" Ratchet inquired as he stepped next to the blue Autobot.

"I'm curious why these machines require two pilots to operate. It's incredibly inefficient."

"We couldn't get it to work otherwise," Coulson explained. "With only one pilot the mental strain is too much. It overloads their minds. At best it knocks them out for a few hours. At worst, well, I don't think it takes a genius to figure that out."

"That's because you've got the neural linkage set up wrong."

Pentecost frowned in irritation. "We spent fifteen long years developing these machines with the help of the other Autobots. So why don't you tell them what's wrong?"

"The way you have the neural linkage set up now is doomed to fail. It's organized so that the computer reads the user's neural signals and then transfers those to the machine to make it move. This means that the user's mind is sending those signals to both the computer and their own body. Of course you'd have a sense of overload in that situation. Instead, what you should do, is put sensors in the pilot's suit itself, that way the unit is reading their movements, not their mind, and so their mind is freed up to think and plan, not having to deal with dual signals."

"As interesting a suggestion as that is," an older woman with long brown hair, with red highlights, and black glasses wearing a formal suit remarked as she walked into the room, "there aren't sensors that exist that are both sensitive enough to read such exact muscle movements and fast enough to immediately send those signals to the machine. Besides, with the neural interface, the pilot doesn't need to waste time with gestures to activate the weapons."

Fury motioned to the woman and explained, "This is one of our senior Agents, Victoria Hand."

"Activating a weapon," Wheeljack argued, "and being able to use it are two completely different matters."

"Be that as it may," Hand shot back, "your idea isn't feasible until we have sensors that precise. And we don't."

"I'll grab some from the Xanthium."

Hand huffed lightly. "We'll see."

* * *

Quill sighed as he looked over his armor.

"What are you doing?" Gamora asked as she sat next to him.

"Thinking about how to upgrade my armor," Quill answered. He noticed Coulson walking by and stopped him. "Hey, Coulson. S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't happen to have any Vibranium lying around, would it?"

"No. It's an exceedingly rare metal. As far as I'm aware, all the Vibranium we had was lost during World War II," Coulson explained.

Quill sighed in frustration. "Well that sucks. I was hoping to get some to improve my armor."

"What exactly is this 'vibranium' you refer to?" Ratchet asked as he attended to one of his weapons.

Coulson explained, "It's a metal that, in its natural state, is relatively soft and malleable. But once you heat it, shape it, and then cool it, it's nearly indestructible and resists all forms of vibration."

"And it'd be a big help in round two against the Jolly Green Giant," Quill added.

Ratchet hummed in thought for a moment. "I might actually have just a little bit of it. Back on Cybertron it was the material we normally used to construct our buildings and vehicles, so Ultra Magnus might have brought some with him."

Quill pumped a fist excitedly. "Great! I'll be able to upgrade Mjolnir and have a much better time against Bulky next time."

Ratchet nodded in understanding. "I'll ask."

* * *

Ratchet walked up to Quill and set down a large crate filled with a dull, silvery metal. "This is all we can spare for you."

Quill grinned as he looked over the crate. "Great. This'll do perfectly."

The conversation was interrupted as a loud explosion shook the facility before Wheeljack came flying and slammed into a wall. "I'm okay!" he immediately shouted.

"Okay… what just happened…?"

"I was testing the Gipsy Danger's Plasmacaster. It works. Now… can someone pull me out of this wall? I'm kind of… stuck."

Ironhide and Hound walked up to Wheeljack, grabbed him by the arms, and yanked him from the wall.

"Ah, thanks."

"Try not to blow anything up this time, Q," Ironhide suggested. "That's my job."

Quill chuckled lightly before returning to working on the armor. "Okay, first thing I'll need to do is get this metal shaped. So, better get to it."

* * *

Quill sat as the vibranium was heated nearby. "Hhmm… I think my suit needs an AI. Several of my upgrades are going to need it." He sat back and rubbed his chin in thought. "How to make it…" After a moment of pondering he instantly sat up. "Hey, Bee! Wanna go for a ride?"

Bumblebee turned to him curiously and shrugged. "Sure. I need to stretch my servos anyway."

* * *

"No," Tony answered bluntly.

"Aaww… why not?"

"JARVIS is proprietary Stark tech. I won't share."

"Come on man, I need some kind of AI for my suit, and programming isn't my thing. I can build things but I can't program them. Please?"

"The answer is no."

JARVIS then interjected, "Sir, what about –?"

"Mute," Tony immediately interrupted.

Quill narrowed his eyes in thought. "What about what?"

"Nothing," Tony answered curtly as he pulled a piece from a new armor he was working on.

"… Unmute."

Tony groaned as JARVIS continued, "Sir, what about Cortana?"

"What's Cortana?"

"The prototype to JARVIS," Tony explained, annoyed.

"And a lot sexier," a new voice remarked as a blue hologram of young woman with short hair in a pixie cut, her body covered in lines, appeared on a monitor nearby.

Quill gaped slightly. "Whoa…"

Tony sighed. "Don't get too excited. She's got a few… kinks."

"This coming from Mr. Kink himself," Cortana remarked with an annoyed smirk.

"You tried to overload the computer on that woman's car just because she didn't think you were pretty."

With a huff, Cortana argued, "So? Bitch deserved it. Besides, you weren't going to get lucky that night anyway."

Tony pointed his wrench at her defensively, "Hey, you don't know that."

Cortana smirked in amusement. "Really? Seemed pretty obvious to me."

"So what made Tony switch from you to Alfred?" Quill questioned curiously.

"I… might have uploaded a few of his drunken escapades to the internet."

"That was supposed to be private home security footage," Tony argued with faux indignation.

"Oh come on, how could I resist sharing footage of you dancing around like a monkey? It would have been a crime _not_ to share it."

Tony sighed and turned to Quill with exasperation. "You see what I have to deal with? I wasn't going to let my house be ruled by a temperamental and impulsive AI. I wanted someone more obedient."

"Thank you, sir," JARVIS replied.

"He unmuted when pretty boy told him to," Cortana commented.

Tony frowned. "You, zip it."

Cortana merely blew a raspberry at him.

Tony turned back to Quill. "Kid, you think you can handle all that crazy? Go ahead."

"Sure, I'll take her," Quill replied.

"Okay… Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Now how many times did I use _that_ line with you?" Cortana asked with a smirk.

"Shut. Up."

Quill merely grinned.

* * *

Pepper sighed as she walked through the living room carrying a file in her hand, noticing Quill come up from the basement. After a moment of thought she spoke up, "Hey… Quill."

Quill stopped and turned to her. "Oh, hey Pep. How've things been?"

Pepper sighed heavily. "Busy. I think there's a new fleet of reporters every day wanting an interview with 'Iron Man'."

"Ah. Guess Tony blabbed?"

Pepper sighed and pointed to a television, showing a recording of Tony at a press conference.

"I am Iron Man," Tony said plainly.

Quill whistled lightly. "Of course he would. He's kind like me in that way, actually."

"Yeah…" Pepper groaned. "It's been quite hectic." After a short silence, Pepper asked, "So… what've you been up to?"

Quill shrugged lightly. "You know, hunting monsters, meeting new friends, getting my augs redone. The usual."

"Sounds… fun."

Quill raised an eyebrow in thought. "I don't know if I'd put it quite like that, but yeah. I guess so. Say, ever met Cor?"

Pepper raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Cor?"

"Li'l nickname for Cortana."

Pepper rolled her eyes and groaned heavily. "Oh dear. I thought Tony destroyed that… thing."

"Huh?"

Cortana then appeared as a hologram on the disc Quill held. "She doesn't like me very much."

"Aaww… but you're so funny, Cor!"

Pepper huffed lightly in derision. "She is not 'funny'. She is a pain in the neck and oversteps her boundaries even worse and even more often than Tony does."

Cortana waved a finger in disagreement. "No, I don't do it worse." With a smirk, she corrected, "I do it better."

Pepper narrowed her eyes and then turned to Quill. "So, will you be taking it out of here?"

"I will," Quill answered.

"Good."

"Oh, and it seems Tony's working on the Mk-IV down there."

Pepper sighed in frustration. "Another one of those things?"

Quill shrugged lightly. "Hey, it keeps him out of trouble."

"I… I suppose you have a point… Hey, do you have a minute?"

"For you? Always."

* * *

"I hope you don't mind," Pepper preemptively apologized, "but these boxes are just too heavy for me to lift."

Quill waved a hand. "Not at all. What's in them?"

"Just some old equipment Tony got rid of. For some reason I can't get ahold of any moving companies to come and get rid of it."

"Ah, you want it gone, not moved."

Pepper raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Aren't those… the same thing?"

"No. Moved is when you want something taken to another place for safe keeping. Gone is when you want it gone for good."

Pepper shrugged. "Okay, if you can make it gone without moving it go right ahead."

Quill nodded and then looked at the discarded equipment in thought. "Hey, why'd he get rid of these?"

Pepper shrugged. "I've learned to stop trying to find the reasons why he does things. Just keeping up and getting rid of the messes he leaves behind is taxing enough as it is."

"Huh… guess I see your point."

"Yeah. If there's nothing else, I have more work to do." With a heavy sigh she added, "Always more work to do."

"Need a massage?"

Pepper sighed once more. "Oh I'd love to, but I barely have the time to catch my breath, let alone handle the… 'effects' of one of your massages."

"Ah. Well, maybe you can hire some help?"

Pepper laughed lightly. "Choices are pretty slim. I don't suppose you'd be looking for a job."

Quill grinned in amusement. "Sorry but I've got a job already. I'll ask around and see if they know some people. I know one person who's looking for a job but I'd have to break all of Tony's bones before I let her work here."

"Ah…"

* * *

Quill walked back into the Triskelion and saw Mikaela talking with Coulson. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on here?"

Mikaela turned to him and waved. "Hey, Peter!"

Coulson motioned to Mikaela. "I'd like you to meet the newest member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mechanical staff. I'm sure you know each other already."

"Yeah… Do I even want to know how this happened?"

"No. You don't."

"Got it."

"She'll be on your team for the time being."

Their conversation was interrupted by a cellphone ringing.

"Hello?" After a moment, Coulson nodded. "I see." He then hung up and turned to Quill. "Banner's been spotted again. Ross is planning to send some of his men after him. Again."

Quill nodded in understanding. "I'll go suit up and install Cor."

Coulson nodded as Quill left then turned to Mikaela. "What's Cor?"

Mikaela shrugged in confusion.

* * *

Quill walked into the lab and saw Wheeljack crouched over his armor. However, he instantly noticed his armor looked different. Bulkier, thicker. "What… the hell… is that…?"

Wheeljack turned to him before standing. "Huh? Oh, I made a few upgrades to the design. Added some extra armor to the shoulders and chest. I also added a fully functioning jetpack to the back, so you won't be restricted to just really long jumps."

"That's wicked. So how'd the vibranium integrate?"

Wheeljack nodded. "Quite well. There's a few spots where I couldn't use it simply because of the need for flexibility but everywhere else it's a full-vibranium exoskeleton."

Quill smirked and walked up to the armor, pressing a button on the back, causing the arms and legs to fold open, and the back to fold up with a space for him to slip his head into. After entering it all sealed up around him. "Wow, fits perfectly. Nice and cozy. Now, to download Cor."

Wheeljack blinked curiously. "Cor?"

Quill grabbed the chip Cortana was on and slipped it into a slot on the back of the suit's helmet.

"Hey Cor," Quill remarked, "you up?"

A visage of Cortana appeared in the corner of Quill's HUD. "It's pretty cozy in here. I could get used to this."

Quill smirked. "Great to hear, babe. Now let's get going."

Fury immediately stomped into the room, quite displeased. "Prime!"

"This can't be good," Wheeljack muttered.

"Yes, Director?" Optimus asked curiously.

"A piece of that ship o' yours just fell off and crushed two of my planes!" Fury howled angrily.

Magnus sighed and covered his face with his hand in exasperation. "Oops."

Optimus turned to Magnus in confusion. "Something we need to know, sir?"

"Do you remember Omega Supreme?"

Optimus nodded slowly. "How could I not?"

"I had Wheeljack graft him to the front of the Xanthium. To help him heal, and to provide us aid in case the Decepticons ever again created a creature such as Trypticon."

"I don't like the sound of that," Fury noted.

* * *

In the main dock area, the group walked in and saw the bridge of the Xanthium detached from the rest of the ship and lying on the ground.

"Omega…" Optimus asked in disbelief, "do you function…?"

"Op… timus…" a low, bellowing voice asked from within the bridge before it sparked, shifted, and then transformed into a large, bulky, grey Autobot that stood nearly eighty meters in height.

"Whoa…" Quill muttered before turning to Fury. "So, got any planes big enough to be his alt mode, Nick?"

"One," Fury answered. "Coulson, roll the Bus out here."

Coulson frowned in confusion. "That old thing?"

"Just do it, Agent."

"Ah… yes, sir," Coulson answered before walking away.

* * *

Everyone turned as the Bus, a massive cargo plane with two sets of wings, both with extremely large engines on them, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem on its back, slowly rolled into the hangar.

Omega looked over the vehicle in thought before light shot from his eyes and he scanned the vehicle before crouching down as parts of his body moved and shifted, ending with him becoming an exact duplicate of the Bus, with an Autobot insignia on the top of the plane rather than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s emblem.

Quill turned to Fury. "Please tell me he can be my ride. Because he is awesome."

"Don't ask me," Fury answered before glancing up at Optimus and Magnus.

Optimus motioned towards the transformed Omega. "It is his decision."

"I do not mind," Omega answered slowly. "I would like to tour our new home."

Optimus nodded in understanding. "Autobots, transform and roll out!"

* * *

Quill, now out of his armor, stood on the bridge of Omega's vehicle mode, giddy. "Okay, this thing, er, guy, is officially my new favorite ride!"

Duke sighed as he sat in the copilot's seat. "I'd like to know why Fury sent me as your babysitter."

"It's a good reason to get out, isn't it?" Bumblebee asked, using the internal radio from the hangar.

Quill shrugged. "That's true. Anyway, we should be nearing the drop point where General Lightningfart is about to engage a massacre."

Duke furrowed his brow in confusion as he looked at their location. "Hang on, we're not far from Harlem. He doesn't actually intend to fight that thing here, does he?"

Quill shrugged as he got out of his seat. "I never said he was smart. Yo, Omega! Can you keep us steady?"

"I can do better than that," Omega answered as ports on the bottom of his plane mode opened and the six engines changed position, pointing down, allowing him to enter a VTOL mode.

"Man… you are awesome!"

"Suit up," Duke ordered as he applied his Accelerator Suit. "Taking Banner down won't be easy, even if he stays white."

Quill equipped the Mjolnir, stretched lightly and then smirked. "Ready for some real combat, babe?"

Cortana smirked in anticipation. "You know it. Let's show the great green beast what we can do."

"Open the hatch!"

Omega's back hatch opened, showing the large park below.

Quill turned to Duke and saluted lazily. "See you on the flipside." He then leapt from the transformed carrier.

"I hate that guy," Duke groaned.

"Could be worse," Sideswipe, still in vehicle mode, remarked. "Come on, let's drop."

* * *

Ross sat in a van with several soldiers when one tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir, we've got something incoming."

"From where?" Ross asked.

Quill, in his armor, immediately slammed into the ground nearby.

"Whoa!" Quill shouted as he stood up shakily. "That was one awesome drop!" He then turned to the side and saw Banner and Elizabeth standing nearby. "Huh…"

"Run," Banner demanded to Elizabeth. "Run, now!" The duo began fleeing when multiple, heavily armed jeeps drove from nearby and surrounded them.

"Oh fuck…" Quill pointed to Banner and Elizabeth. "I'm uh, I'm not with the, okay?"

"Who jumped the gun!?" Ross demanded.

Emil then burst from the bushes with a large group of soldiers and ran towards Banner, outpacing all of the other soldiers.

"Blonsky!" Ross shouted over the radio, "Not yet!"

Emil stopped and raised his hand before turning to the other soldiers. "Look alive, this could get interesting."

Quill raised an eyebrow slightly. "Has Blonsky been juicing?"

"Quill!" Ross shouted over the radio again. "The hell are you doing here? You're not part of this op."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. got involved when they found out you had the bright idea to do this in the middle of Harlem."

Ross sighed heavily. "Just great. Well whatever you do, don't –"

Ross was interrupted as Sideswipe and Bumblebee hit the ground behind Quill and stood tall, Duke landing seconds later.

"Son of a bitch…"

Banner paled and immediately started fleeing.

"I'm on 'im!" Sideswipe retorted as he sped forward on his wheeled feet.

"Swipe! Don't run off!" Quill shouted.

Banner ducked into one of the many buildings nearby, multiple soldiers following after him.

"Slag," Sideswipe growled. "I can't fit."

"Then back up," Quill suggested. "Now it's my turn." Quill and Duke, in their respective armors, then rushed into the building as well.

* * *

Bumblebee turned and watched as Banner rushed into a glass-roofed overpass between two buildings. "I see him!"

"All forces, do not engage!" Ross ordered. "I repeat, do not engage!"

"What?" Duke muttered, confused.

"He's locked in!" another soldier reported. "We've got him cornered at both ends."

"Put two canisters in there with him!" Ross ordered.

Two soldiers approached the overpass with grenade launchers and fired teargas grenades into the hallway, filling it with thick gas.

"Oh that can't be good…" Quill mumbled.

Banner pressed his hands against the glass to stabilize himself before they started growing in size and turning dark green.

"Ah shit! Bee! Swipe! Get ready! General Custard fucked up again!"

"What'd he call me?" Ross asked to another soldier before Elizabeth started running towards the building. "Get her back here!"

"Bruce!" Elizabeth called out franticly before one of the soldiers tackled her to the ground.

The hallway then smashed open, glass, metal, and two stone pillars getting sent flying, one of which crushed a soldier, before the Hulk jumped out from the smoke and landed on the ground, bellowing out a loud roar.

"Now she'll see," Ross muttered confidently.

Emil smirked as the Hulk stood.

Quill turned to Duke and raised a hand. "Duke, fall back. I'll take him."

"Not a chance," Duke argued. "He'll kick your ass if you're alone."

"You have no idea what this suit can do. Of course, I don't entirely know anymore either."

"Alpha team," Ross began to order, "Light him up."

A large group of soldiers began firing on the Hulk, sending a hailstorm of bullets at him.

"Gotta go," Quill said to Duke, "You keep the idiots under Custard safe." He then leapt after the Hulk, the thrusters on his back firing off.

The Hulk charged towards the soldiers firing at him, only to get tackled by Quill from the side.

"Banzai!"

"Did he just…?" Ross mumbled in disbelief.

The Hulk growled before taking a swing at Quill.

Quill leapt over Hulk's swing and kicked him in the back of the head, causing the green beast to stumble forward, before slamming both feet against Hulk's back, knocking him to the ground.

Hulk growled as he stood only to get punched in the face by Quill who then grabbed him by the arm and threw him.

"Not so tough now, are ya, big guy?" Quill taunted as he walked over to Hulk.

However, before he could reach the green monster, Elizabeth ran in front of him. "Please, stop!"

Quill glanced down at her. "Li'l lady, you might wanna move."

Hulk stood up, scowling at Quill, but unmoving.

"… Well I'll be damned. He's not even fighting with you near."

"Where are those .50 cals!?" Ross shouted. "Get them in there!"

Two jeeps armed with miniguns then drove into the area and started firing.

"Ah shit! Bee! Swipe! Disable those jeeps!" Quill demanded.

Bumblebee furrowed his brow curiously. "Wait, seriously?"

"Do it!"

Sideswipe turned to Bumblebee and shrugged. "You heard the man."

"Okay then," Bumblebee answered.

Sideswipe immediately turned as swords folded out of his arms before he charged at one of the jeeps and swung, slicing it in half.

Bumblebee armed his Plasma Cannon and charged a shot before firing at the other jeep, knocking it on its side.

"What the hell are they doing!?" Ross howled angrily.

"Keeping you from fucking this up even more, Ross!" Quill argued, pointing at Ross.

"Stay out of this, you dumbass! Blonsky, you're up!"

Quill tightened his fists. "… Cor, get Fury on the line."

"I already did," Cortana answered. "He's been listening to it all."

"Can you hear me, General?" Fury asked on the comm.

"Not now, Director," Ross answered with annoyance.

"I am giving operational command of this situation to Quill. It's out of your hands."

"I don't take orders from people who don't exist, so no."

Fury sighed heavily. "You're too close to this, General. You're too passionate."

"Because that weapon is mine!" Ross rebutted, enraged.

Quill snarled. "He's not some damn weapon! He's a person!"

"That man's entire body is government property! Either you stay out of my way or I'll take you down too."

Quill stepped in front of Elizabeth and pulled out the Spartan Laser. "If that's how you want to play this, Ross. I'll turn you to ash."

"Where's that air support!?"

An attack helicopter then flew into the area, weapons armed. It began immediately pelting Hulk with shots.

Hulk roared loudly before charging forward and wrapping his arms around Elizabeth, shielding her from the helicopter's fire.

"Fucking hell…" Quill cursed. "You, in the air! Back off now! You're just making things worse!"

"Cease fire!" Ross ordered franticly. "Cease fire dammit!"

However, before the pilot could obey the order, Hulk ripped the engine out of a nearby, downed jeep and threw it at the helicopter, knocking it out of the air.

"Well…" Sideswipe muttered. "He stopped firing."

However, Emil then charged at Hulk.

Hulk merely turned and slammed his foot at Emil, sending him tumbling before he slammed into a tree.

Quill winced slightly. "That looked painful."

"Yeah," Cortana added, "He isn't walking after that one."

Hulk turned and saw Elizabeth, unconscious, and growled before grabbing her and running off into the trees.

"Well…" Quill muttered. "That could have gone better… Right Nick?"

Fury sighed heavily. "I don't believe this. Blades, take me down."

A blue police helicopter descended to the area before Fury stepped out and the vehicle transformed into a six meter tall, thin, blue and white Autobot.

Quill waved lightly to Fury as he walked towards the group. "Hey, quite the cluster fuck, eh Nick?"

Fury walked up to Ross with a deep frown. "General Ross, as of this moment I am taking operational command of the mission to apprehend Banner. If you have a problem with that you can take it up with the twenty-foot-tall pieces of walking metal behind me."

Quill just grinned in amusement.

Ross narrowed his eyes angrily. "That thing has my daughter. And if you think I'm about to –"

Quill interrupted Ross by knocking him out cold. "I'm sorry, what was that Custard?"

Fury sighed slightly. "You know, if weren't an asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. your ass would be rotting away in jail right now."

Quill shrugged. "Sorry, but he kinda had that one coming for doing his last stand here."

"I didn't say you were wrong. Alright, Duke, Quill, get back in the air and continue the search for Banner. Maybe this time we can bring him in without wrecking a city block."

"You got it."

* * *

Duke frowned in confusion as he sat next to Quill inside Omega Supreme as they flew. "Fury told us to go after Banner," Duke remarked. "So why'd you take us back to the Triskelion?"

Quill nodded. "If we're going to do this right, I'm going to need the rest of my team."

Duke raised an eyebrow. "Team? You call that a team?"

Quill smirked. "Yeah. The Guardians of the Galaxy."

Duke remained silent for several moments before sighing.

Quill put up a hand. "I already know what you're going to say, just don't."

Duke shrugged in response. "Whatever."

"Plus, I get the feeling we'll have to deal with Blonsky again."

Duke turned to him incredulously. "You can't be serious. You saw what Banner did to him. I'd be surprised if the guy didn't break every bone in his body."

"Yeah, I saw it. I also know that Blonsky wasn't normal at the time. He'd been juicing on some serious shit. Which means he can likely regenerate. And he's going to be pissed. Meaning he'll probably get Ross to pump him full of even more of whatever cocktail they mixed up."

"Ross was removed from this mission."

"Oh come on, man, wake up. You saw Ross. That guy's unstable. He's obsessed and he's desperate. You really think he's just gonna sit on his hands because Fury told him to? No, he's going to do whatever it takes to be the winner in this. Even if it means career suicide. Or the real thing. Which means we need to get to Banner before Custard can put the entire country in jeopardy. Or else we'll have a _lot_ of dead bodies to deal with."

* * *

After Omega landed in the Triskelion, Quill left and headed inside.

"Hey, Quill, wait a second," Duke interjected. "The barracks are that way," he stated with a point.

Quill nodded. "I know. There's one thing I need to do first."

* * *

Quill walked into the Triskelion's prison ward and looked around. "Now… which cell…?"

"Can I help you?" the warden asked as he walked up to Quill.

"Yeah, I'm here for one of the prisoners."

The warden put up a hand. "Without Fury's orders I can't let you do that."

Fury then walked past the two from within the prison block, stopping as he looked at Quill in confusion. "The hell you doin' here?"

"What are… you, doing here?" Quill retorted, mildly confused.

"I'm here for reasons you don't need to know. You?"

"I need help from an old friend."

Fury narrowed his eye in thought. "The Baroness?"

"Her name's Ana."

"Whatever." Fury turned to the warden. "Let her out."

The warden saluted. "Sir."

* * *

"You know it's still not safe for me to go with you guys," Ana stated, wearing grey prison garb.

"So?" Quill retorted.

With a sigh, Ana posited, "And what happens if those things take over my mind again?"

"I fried them, they won't."

"You deactivated them. You didn't destroy them."

Quill raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I did."

"The medical staff did a scan of my body." Ana sighed and then added, "The Nanomites are still in me. They're not active but they're still in there."

"Did they scan their brains? Because I'm pretty sure those are fried."

Ana sighed once more. "The doctors here said it's not safe for me to be out until my body's clear of those things. And considering the things I did…" she trailed off with a frown.

Quill put a hand on her chin. "Hey, Ana, come on. That wasn't you. That was your psycho brother controlling you. So don't worry about it. And if those things do come back, we'll handle it. Deal?"

Ana sighed. "Okay…"

* * *

Duke turned as Quill and Ana walked into the area, in disbelief. "What the… Ana?"

Ana and Quill stopped, the former gulping slightly.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Quill asked in confusion.

"My boy was about to get hitched!" Ripcord explained.

"Well that's… new…"

"Awkward…" Rocket mumbled.

"Ana, look, I'm –" Duke began, interrupted as Ana put a hand up.

"We've got a mission, Duke," Ana rebutted. "Let's deal with this afterward."

"R – Right…"

* * *

Quill sighed as he sat in the large lounge inside Omega's vehicle mode. "Hhmm… this place needs a fridge."

"What for?" Gamora asked curiously as she sat next to him.

"Beer and food. What else?"

"I don't think we need you drinking on the mission," Scarlett chided.

"Hey, you haven't seen me drunk yet."

"How about we save that for later?" Ana recommended as she patted his shoulder.

Quill shrugged. "Alright, alright. If you say so."

"We should be arriving in New York soon."

Quill smirked lightly. "Ahh, the Big Apple." He then turned to Drax almost immediately. "And no Drax, it's not actually an apple."

Drax furrowed his brow in confusion. "Then why –?"

"It's an expression, dude," Ripcord explained.

"An expression is something you do with your face."

Ripcord raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "This boy needs help."

"Yeah. Well, time to suit up!"

Duke frowned in confusion. "I thought we were going to try and avoid fighting Banner."

"It's not Banner I'm worried about. It's General Custard and his juicing sidekick."

Duke and Ripcord then said in unison, "I call the Accel – I called it first! No, me!"

Ana sighed and turned to Scarlett. "They _do_ realize we have more than one onboard, right?"

"It's more entertaining this way," Scarlett retorted.

Ana shrugged in agreement.

* * *

The ground exploded as Quill slammed into it hard. "Now… where's Banner…?"

"Do you hate parachutes or something?" Duke asked as he and Ripcord, in Accelerator Suits, landed.

"Quill, do you hear me?" Natasha asked over the radio.

"Tasha?" Quill asked in surprise.

"Don't call me that. You need to get to Harlem. Find Doctor Samuel Sterns. He's been helping Banner try to find a cure for his… condition, and they're going to meet. Unfortunately, Ross knows this information too."

"Shit. Which way is he?"

"Remember that university where you had that punch up?"

"I'm on it. Bee, Swipe! Let's roll!"

* * *

Quill, no longer in the Mjolnir, walked through the university with Ana and Scarlett, looking for Sterns' office.

"Remember, try not to spook him," Quill suggested. "And keep your eyes open for Custard's lackeys."

"Right," Scarlett responded in understanding.

A large, muscular guard turned to the trio as they walked in. "Hey, you can't –!" he instantly collapsed after Quill hit him with a stun shot.

"That was excessive," Scarlett chided.

"What?" Quill muttered, "I didn't kill him."

Ana merely sighed in exasperation.

* * *

As the group walked through the upper floors, the lights in the building flickered lightly.

"Well…" Quill mumbled, "that's ominous."

The hallway was then filled with an extremely loud roar.

"Oh crap. I'll get my armor."

"Wait," Scarlett insisted as she grabbed his arm.

They then heard a new voice laughing in amazed triumph. "It worked! It actually worked!"

Quill and the others snuck up to the door and saw Banner lying on a table, Elizabeth holding him down, and Sterns standing nearby.

"Bruce…" Elizabeth said quietly in worry.

After a moment Banner took in a deep breath before turning to her weakly. "D – Did… did it work…?"

"Yes!" Sterns shouted in excitement. "I mean, I think…! Probably."

Quill sighed and knocked on the door.

Banner and Elizabeth turned to the door in worry.

"Uh-oh," Banner mumbled.

Sterns, seemingly ignoring their concern, walked up to the door.

"Wait…!"

Opening the door, Sterns saw Quill, Scarlett, and Ana in the doorway. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah, I think," Quill answered unsurely.

"Oh no…" Elizabeth said as she backed away slowly.

Quill put up his hands. "Whoa, whoa! Calm down! We're on your side this time! So no crazy, okay? We need to get you out of her before the old dumbass and the supped up fish-and-chips gets here."

Banner, standing weakly, warned, "You have no idea… what you're dealing with."

Quill folded his arms with a sigh. "Actually, considering it sent me flying into a tree, I think I do. Not to mention getting you _away_ from the General with a severe case of Alzheimer's is best for all involved, don't you think?"

Banner narrowed his eyes in confusion. "W – Wait a minute, you're… _not_ with the general?"

"No. If I was I'd gag myself with a spoon because of how stupid he is. I'm with a group called S.H.I.E.L.D."

Banner gulped slightly. "Oh, no… that's much worse."

"Really? I don't think so. We are trying to bring you in so you don't hurt anybody. Old Man Custard wants to use you as a weapon."

Banner shook his head. "You've got some details wrong there. The general wants to pull the other guy out of me so he can mass produce it and make an army of super soldiers. S.H.I.E.L.D. want to use the other guy as a weapon."

Quill furrowed his brow in thought. "Huh. Not so sure about 'weapon'. I mean, you and… other you would make one hell of a team dude. And if need be I could keep you in check with my armor 'til you calmed down." Pointing to Elizabeth he added, "Though your girlfriend did a pretty great job at that until Custard's flying monkeys whirled in."

Elizabeth turned away slightly, trying to hide her embarrassment. "W – We're not dating."

Banner nodded emphatically, coughing into his hand lightly. "Y – Yeah, no way." Turning to Elizabeth suddenly, he added, "I – I mean, I would if you wanted, but that's not a good idea. F – For you, I mean."

Quill sighed and slapped a hand over his face in exasperation. "Damn you're dense." With a groan, he continued, "Whatever. Look, we need to –" Quill stopped when he noticed a soldier wielding a sniper rifle on the nearby roof. "Shit. Banner, on the ground, now."

Banner immediately hit the ground.

"Bee, Swipe, the dairy's here. We need to make that not the case."

"Got it," Sideswipe replied over the radio.

"Okay. Next step is your, Banner. We need to get you out of –" Quill was interrupted before he could finish his sentence by a kick to the back from Emil, sending him flying across the room.

Ana and Scarlett immediately turned to fire at him, only for him to pick them up by their necks and throw them across the room.

"Banner!" Emil shouted with insane zeal as he walked into the room and grabbed Banner by the arm. "Where is it!?" he demanded before slapping Banner. "Give it to me!" he demanded as he slapped him again.

"Stop it!" Elizabeth begged franticly as she tried to pull him off Banner, only to get sent flying by a punch from Emil.

Emil growled before knocking Banner unconscious.

"Oy!" Quill shouted. "Pantaloons!" Quill groaned as he stood up. "Okay fish-and-chips, time to knock your ass out."

Emil huffed in derision. "Piss off, yank. You're not –" Emil was interrupted by Quill punching him in the face.

"Sorry, what was that?" Quill remarked with a smirk.

Emil growled angrily and slammed his foot into Quill's abdomen, sending him slamming out through the wall.

"Oh ccrraapp…!" Quill shouted as he fell, only for Bumblebee to run and jump up, grabbing Quill, before transforming as he landed, landing Quill safely in the seat. Quill shook his head of the confusion before snarling. "Bee, get me to my suit."

"It's in the back," Bumblebee explained.

"Good," Quill replied as he pulled the suit out.

* * *

Ross stood and watched as Banner, handcuffed and strapped to a stretcher, was wheeled out of the building with Ana and Scarlett, also handcuffed, along with Elizabeth.

Ross walked up to Banner and threatened, "If you took it from me, I will personally see to it that you spend the rest of your life in a hole."

Scarlett narrowed her eyes. ' _He doesn't actually think he can get away with this, does he?_ '

Ross grabbed Elizabeth by the arm as she walked by. "Betty –"

Elizabeth turned to him, enraged. "I will never forgive you for what you've done to him."

"He's a fugitive."

"You _made_ him a fugitive. To cover up your failures and protect your career."

' _Oh Fury is going to love this,_ ' Scarlett said in her thoughts.

* * *

"Oh Fury is going to love this," Cortana said with a smirk as Quill stepped out of Bumblebee, wearing the Mjolnir Mk-VI.

"Mind sharing?" Quill asked.

"Not at all. Apparently the old man is a very stupid general. More so than we thought. And Banner is his scapegoat."

Quill smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "Perf –"

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" a soldier shouted as he and another soldier fired at something, disrupting Quill's thoughts.

"Oh what now?"

The wall where Sterns' office was suddenly exploded as a machine came flying out before two soldiers were sent flying, seconds later a large, green, scaly, humanoid creature, exceeding three meters with large spines on its back landed on the ground.

Several soldiers approached the creature and started firing, eliciting an amused chuckle from it before it grabbed a police cruiser and threw it at them.

"The hell is that thing!?" one of the soldiers bellowed.

"What do you think!?" the other howled. "It's the Hulk!"

"Nah," Quill, standing behind the two in his armor, rebutted, "I'd call it Abomination."

"It's running away!" a police officer standing nearby noted.

"Huh… Well, better get after it." Quill then pointed to the two soldiers and the officer. "You three get the civvies evacuated." He then immediately started chasing after Abomination.

* * *

"General, you should hear this," a soldier on the helicopter with Banner and the others stated as he held a phone before handing it to Ross.

Ross took the phone, confused.

"The Hulk is in the street!" the soldier on the end shouted, "I repeat, the Hulk is in the street!"

"That's impossible," Ross argued. "Now you get ahold of yourself soldier. What is your position?"

"A hundred and thirty-first street, heading north on Broadway!"

Ross turned to the pilot and ordered, "Turn us around." Turning his attention back to the soldier on the phone, Ross ordered, "Dammit, get me eyes down there!"

"Yes, sir!" the soldier answered before switching his helmet-mounted camera on, showing Ross and the others footage of Abomination rampaging through the streets right before Quill flew past them.

"General…" Scarlett asked timidly, "What was that…?"

"I don't… have a clue…" Ross mumbled.

Banner gaped as he looked at the video feed before turning to Ross. "One of yours?"

"Oh no…" Elizabeth mumbled in terror and disbelief. "What have you done?"

* * *

Multiple police officers pelted Abomination with bullets, not even fazing it.

One of the soldiers turned to the other and shouted, "You think a rifle's gonna hurt that?!"

Quill landed next to their damaged jeep and remarked, "Not an ordinary one."

"What about this?" the other soldier asked, holding a large rocket launcher.

"Uuhh… try it. Though it'll probably just piss him off."

"Booyah!" the soldier shouted as he fired the rocket.

However, Abomination turned, grabbing the rocket out of midair, before grinning psychotically and slamming it against his chest, causing it to detonate, leaving him unharmed.

"Ookkaayy…" Quill muttered before pulling out the Spartan Laser. "New plan." Taking a moment to aim, he then fired a powerful blast of energy at Abomination, knocking it down. "Take that."

Abomination growled as he stood before grinning as the hole in his chest healed shut.

"Crap… Well this should be fun."

The beast then bolted towards the jeep, throwing vehicles and people alike to the side as he did.

Quill jumped up and flew at Abomination at high speed before dropkicking him on the head.

Abomination just growled before grabbing Quill by the leg and slamming him against the ground.

"Heads up!" Sideswipe shouted before charging in and slamming his foot into the monster's head, knocking it to the ground.

Abomination snarled before knocking Sideswipe to the ground and hoisting him into the air. "Give me a real fight!"

* * *

The group on the helicopter flinched as they watch Abomination crush the men in the jeep.

"Looks like you created the monster you wanted, Ross," Scarlett chided.

Ross sighed heavily. "Tell them to ready everything they've got and head for Harlem."

"No," Banner argued, "it has to be me. You need to take me back there."

"What are you saying?" Elizabeth argued in dubiety. "You think you can control it?"

"N – No, not, not control it, but – I don't know, maybe aim it."

"And what if you can't!?" Ross challenged.

"If he can't," Scarlett interjected, "Quill will take him."

"Oh right," Ross snarled dismissively, "because he's doing such a great job of that right now!"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Quill shouted over the radio. "Get the Hulk down here now, dammit!"

Ross tightened his fists before sighing. "Land us near it."

"No, no, keep us high," Banner insisted. "Open the back door."

Ross motioned to the soldier behind them who opened the helicopter's back hatch.

"Bruce!" Elizabeth shouted as he moved towards the ramp. "Bruce, stop!" Grabbing his arm to stop him, she demanded, "What are you doing?! Think about this! You don't even know if you'll change!"

"Betty," Banner insisted, "I've gotta try." Pushing her away softly, he then leapt from the helicopter.

* * *

Quill rolled under another swing from Abomination before turning as he watched Bruce hit the ground nearby. "Well… that happened…"

After a moment of silence, Hulk's fist emerged from the pile of rubble with a growl.

* * *

 **And that wraps up this chapter of Guardians of Earth. Be sure to let me know what you thought of it in a review. Whether you liked it, were confused or have questions about anything, or whether you just disliked it. In which case I would suggest doing something you actually enjoy with your time, but that is just me. I have nothing else to say here, though, so until next time, buh-bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

 **Greetings and salutations to all! I have returned with yet another chapter of Guardians of Earth. I am aware it seems odd that I have done so very many of these chapters in a row. Even I do not know why I suddenly have such keen inspiration for this story, but there you have it. Hopefully those of you who enjoy this story are appreciating the flood of chapters. I do not know how long it will last. I also hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, and that you equally enjoy this chapter as well. Be sure to post a review if you do. That aside, I would like to thank my patient and faithful coauthor Bakuto Masaki, for going along with my sudden obsession with this story. No reviews to speak of yet so might as well move on to the main event.**

* * *

Quill rolled under a swing from Abomination before turning as he watched Bruce hit the ground nearby. "Well… that happened…"

After a moment of silence, Hulk's fist emerged from the pile of rubble with a growl.

"Nice of you to join the party."

Hulk stood, shaking his head slightly, before huffing with a smirk.

Abomination grinned as he stamped on a nearby car. "Hulk!"

Hulk turned to Abomination and growled, ripping a stray piece of torn clothing from his torso.

The two beasts then began charging at one another.

"II should probably get moving," Quill muttered before the thrusters on his back fired off, launching him into the air as the monsters collided, Abomination punching Hulk before throwing him. "You recording this Cor?"

Cortana smirked and rebutted, "Do I have a nice rack?"

Quill chuckled and retorted, "That's a hell yeah if I ever heard one."

"Flying jeep," Cortana said bluntly.

Quill turned and punched the jeep, sending it flying at Abomination.

Abomination growled as he stumbled.

"Take that, ugly!"

"Eat plasma!" Bumblebee shouted as he ran towards Abomination, firing a fully charged shot from his Plasma Cannon, sending Abomination tumbling.

Abomination growled before punching Sideswipe as he charged and then turned and threw him at Hulk, sending both crashing.

Quill readied his Spartan Laser and dive-bombed Abomination, only for the green beast to grab a motorcycle and hit him with it, sending him flying.

Quill groaned after he stopped tumbling. " _Why_ am I always getting hit with motorcycles!? It's almost like they hate me!"

Hulk turned and split a nearby police cruiser in half, smashing his hands into the halves like a pair of giant boxing gloves.

Abomination stepped onto a burning bus and chortled before taunting Hulk. "Come on! Is that the best you've got?"

Hulk roared before the two charged at each other, Hulk repeatedly battering Abomination with the large car chunks before knocking him to the ground and beating on him until the car sections fell apart.

Abomination growled and spat a tooth out before kicking Hulk in the abdomen, sending him flying straight through a nearby building and chasing after him.

"Dammit!" Quill cursed. "This isn't going well. Bee, Swipe, I think it's time you dial back on the restrictions. Let's go full-tilt and take this bastard down."

"But what about the city?" Bumblebee asked, concerned.

Quill waved a hand outward. "Look around you! The city's already trashed! At least if we take this guy down it won't get completely leveled. Cor! Start charging Veronica to max!"

"It'll take three minutes and thirty-eight seconds to charge the caster to full," Cortana explained.

"Keep him busy!"

Sideswipe smirked as he readied his swords. "I can do that."

Bumblebee equipped his Plasma Cannon and Energon Ax before a battle mask folded over his face. "Let's rock!"

Abomination then started climbing the wall to pursue Hulk as Ross' helicopter flew up to take aim.

"Give him some support soldier!" Ross ordered to a soldier at a minigun.

"Which one, sir!?" the soldier asked in confusion.

"The green one dammit! Cut the other one in half!"

Quill tilted his head curiously. "Aren't they both green?"

Abomination flinched and growled as the bullets from the minigun bounced off him. "Ross!" Ignoring the hole Hulk had gone through, Abomination proceeded to climb further up the building.

"Ross! Get that chopper out of the area, now! He's coming after you, moron!"

Abomination reached the roof of the building and ran across it, Ross' helicopter continuing to fire at him.

"Ah crap."

Bumblebee soon reached the roof as well and started firing his Plasma Cannon at the sprinting Abomination.

The beast growled before grabbing a nearby chunk of masonry and throwing it at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee responded by shooting the piece of stone, blowing it to pieces before it hit him.

* * *

Sideswipe rolled up to Hulk, who was lying on a large dumpster after being tossed by Abomination, and extended a hand out. "Need a manipulator?"

Hulk snarled as he stood up, causing Sideswipe to back away slightly.

"Just asking." Pointing up, he then remarked, "Scaly's up top."

Hulk growled and then jumped up, climbing the brickwork to reach the roof.

"Guess I better get climbing too."

* * *

On the roof, Hulk sprung up to the top and began running after Abomination, right as the spike-spined beast leapt and latched onto Ross' helicopter.

"Sshhiitt," Quill groaned before Hulk jumped up and grabbed onto Abomination's back, causing the helicopter to tilt to the side. "Not good…"

"Gah!" a voice suddenly shouted from the helicopter, "get off!" The helicopter began to twist and shift, dropping Ross, Elizabeth, and the soldiers to the ground, with Abomination and Hulk hanging off the side still, as it stood up as a fourteen meter, humanoid robot, before grabbing Hulk from its shoulder and throwing him at a billboard.

Quill gaped. "Oohh shit! We got a 'Con!"

"It's Grindor!" Sideswipe shouted as he and Bumblebee reached the area.

"Oh, come on! Abomination wasn't enough!?" Bumblebee groaned.

"You guys take him!" Quill suggested. "Hulk and I got the little one!"

Abomination growled as he stood but was then hit by an arrow to the side of the head that summarily exploded.

Quill turned and saw Scarlett, Ana, Ripcord, and Duke, the latter two in the Accelerator Suits, nearby.

"You weren't really planning on keeping all the fun for yourself, were you?" Scarlett teased.

"Uuhh… kinda?"

Ripcord pointed at Hulk. "The green guy ain't gonna kill us, is he?"

"Hopefully not."

Abomination roared angrily before grabbing a large rock nearby that was attached to a long, thick chain.

"Ah crap…"

* * *

Sideswipe sped past one of Grindor's shots before firing his Photon Burst Rifle at the large Decepticon.

Grindor snarled before firing several rockets from his Thermo Rocket Launcher.

Sideswipe dodged the rockets before whistling lightly. "Man he's angry."

Bumblebee ran and jumped up on Grindor's back, hanging on to the large Decepticon's shoulder. "Gotcha!"

Grindor growled before slamming against a wall to smash Bumblebee, only for the wall to collapse and send them both tumbling to the streets below.

Sideswipe flinched as he watched. "That had to hurt."

Grindor grumbled as he stood, only to get knocked in the head by Hulk after he was thrown by Abomination, knocking the Decepticon back to the ground.

"Wow…" Ripcord mumbled.

"Don't get distracted now, Rip," Duke alerted, "Spiky's after us now!"

Abomination grinned as he started twirling the large chunk of stone over his head, only for it to stop after a few swings. "Huh?" He turned to the side and saw Sideswipe holding on to the end.

"Howdy," Sideswipe taunted before tugging on the chain, pulling Abomination off the roof.

Grindor growled as he attempted to stand once more, only to get knocked back down when Abomination slammed into his head. "I quit…"

Abomination stood up and roared angrily.

"We're fully charged!" Cortana suddenly shouted.

"'Bout time," Quill replied as he raised the Spartan Laser to his shoulder. "Hey, ugly!"

Abomination turned to him, annoyed.

"Say hallo, to mah li'l friend!" Quill immediately fired a high density, supercharged beam from the Spartan Laser.

Abomination roared as the beam hit him, burned through his chest, vaporized his heart, and then blasted out from his back, leaving only a gaping, singed hole in the center of his chest. "This… can't…" Abomination mumbled before collapsing.

Quill stood silently for a moment, dumbfounded. "Wahoo! Hell yeah!"

Grindor growled before he grabbed Abomination's body, transformed, and flew away.

"Well… that's… that…"

However, at that exact moment, multiple attack helicopters flew overhead and aimed at Hulk.

Quill narrowed his eyes. "Hulk. Run."

Hulk turned to him and growled.

"Don't argue! Go!"

Hulk grumbled before turning and leaping onto several buildings and running.

Quill turned to Ross. "Call them off."

Ross huffed in derision. "Like I'm going to capitulate to –"

Quill pointed a gun at Ross. "Call. Them. Off."

"Tch. All units, back off from Banner. We've got cleaning up to do."

* * *

Fury stared at Quill silently for several moments. "So you let him go, again."

Quill nodded. "Yeah. I didn't really have much of a choice given that A: he helped us take down Abomination and B: didn't think the city could take any more damage if we kept fighting him."

"So, you let him go because you thought fighting him would endanger more lives than it'd save?"

"Banner isn't some evil thug. He's a good guy. He _hates_ having that thing inside him. He's spent the past several years trying to get rid of it just to prevent Ross from using it as a weapon. He does his best to keep it from showing up, and when it does he tries to stop it as quick as possible. If you ask me, leaving Banner to his own devices will save more lives than trying to capture him."

Fury smirked before adding, "You're really starting to think like an Agent, Quill."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. You're dismissed." With that, Fury left the room.

Quill raised an eyebrow, perplexed. Well… that was weird."

"He's not wrong, you know," Gamora noted as she walked up to Quill.

"Really?"

"Yes. We've spent just over a year on Terra and you've changed quite a lot."

Quill raised both eyebrows in thought. "Huh… never noticed. Anyway, what now?"

Wheeljack then walked into the room and posited, "Actually, I was thinking of a few more upgrades for your armor."

"Nice."

"I call this one Drop Shield." Wheeljack then slammed his fist to the floor, causing a large, purple, dome-like shield to form around him.

"Awesome."

"I've got one more thing I'd like to add. Something to give you just a little more defensive kick. Energy Shields. Or Kinetic Barriers, whatever you want to call them. Unfortunately, there's also one thing I forgot to mention about that armor."

"What is it?"

"Vibranium isn't completely indestructible."

"And…?"

"Well… let's say the enemy had Vibranium bullets. It would tear straight through your armor."

"Ah… Make the shields. And see if we can get a Vibranium sword going."

"Can do!"

* * *

Quill sighed as he sat in a chair before grumbling out, "When's the next mission?"

"Quill!" Pentecost shouted as he walked into the room, hurried.

Quill immediately stood up straight. "I didn't touch nothing!"

"Come with me."

Quill blinked, perplexed. "Uh… sure…"

* * *

As Quill walked into the area of the Triskelion where the Jaegers were housed, he glanced to the side and saw Gipsy Danger, almost fully repaired. "Wow, looks almost like new."

Pentecost stopped and then turned to Quill. "And yours, if you can make it work."

Quill grinned excitedly. Gamora and the others, however, could only slap their hands over their faces in disbelief.

"This is not good," Rocket mumbled.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. needs Quill Insurance," Gamora noted.

"Such a thing exists?" Drax asked in confusion.

Rocket shrugged. "If there was, more than half the galaxy would… buy… it…" After a moment of thought Rocket grinned widely.

Groot shook his head. "I am Groot."

"The Credits… hehehe…"

"Let's rock!" Quill said with a smirk as he prepared to run to Gipsy's cockpit, only for Pentecost to grab his coat, causing him to trip. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You need to suit up first," Pentecost ordered in his usual dry tone.

"Uh… why?"

"Just do it. Choi! Get him outfitted."

Choi, man with slicked back black hair wearing an all grey uniform with red suspenders nodded. "This way."

"Aaww…" Quill pouted.

* * *

"Jeez," Quill groaned as he wore the heavy, black armor for piloting the Jaeger. "Does it need to be this bulky? It just feels wrong."

Choi nodded. "There's all kinds of sensors and nodes in there."

With a sigh, Quill added, "I'm gonna need to have Wheeljack put some of these in Mjolnir. At least it's comfortable. And maybe I can hook Cor up to Gipsy too."

"Well let's make sure you can actually use Gipsy Danger first. The Marshal's got a lot riding on you being able to."

Quill nodded as he flexed the armor a little. "Got it."

* * *

Quill walked into the large opening in the back of Gipsy's head, into the large cockpit area. Walking forward on a platform suspended in the middle, Quill locked his feet in place on it as several large, mechanical arms attached to his suit. "Now then, let's get this puppy started."

* * *

In the observation bay, Choi turned to Pentecost. "We're ready to begin the tests, sir."

"Good," Pentecost answered with a nod before moving his gaze to Gipsy.

"Let's start with some basic head movements."

* * *

Quill rolled his neck side to side, turning it as well, causing Gipsy to do the same.

"Good. Test arm movements next," Choi ordered.

Quill flexed his arm, moved it outward, and then wiggled his fingers, movements which Gipsy imitated exactly.

* * *

Choi turned to Pentecost and nodded. "Sir, all systems appear to be functioning normally, and with a .02 second delay. And there doesn't appear to be any excess stress on the pilot's mind either."

"Very good," Pentecost said plainly.

"Pretty nice, eh?" Quill asked with a smirk. "Now… can I test the weapons?"

Pentecost smirked momentarily. "That'll be all, Agent."

"Aaww…"

* * *

Quill sighed as he sat in a lounge chair.

"Quill," Wheeljack called as he walked over, carrying Quill's armor. "I've added the Drop Shields and Kinetic Barriers."

Quill grinned as Wheeljack set the armor down before stepping inside it. "Hhmm… doesn't feel like too much weight's been added. Which is good to know. How's it on your end, Cor?"

"Everything feels fine here," Cortana answered as her visage appeared in the corner of Quill's vision. "The new systems aren't drawing much power, but I haven't tested their consumption during actual use yet."

Quill nodded before turning to Wheeljack. "Hey, Jackie, thing you can add a little something else to the suit?"

Wheeljack raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "Certainly."

Quill pointed to his pilot suit nearby. "There's a whole host of weird sensors and nodes used for piloting the Jaeger. Think you put them in this?"

Wheeljack nodded in response. "Of course."

* * *

Quill sighed heavily as he sat in the lounge in Omega's vehicle mode. "Bboorreedd…" He glanced to the side as he heard shouting and went to investigate.

* * *

"I told you already!" Simmons shouted exasperatedly. "The answer is no!"

"But you already said I could!" a young woman with long brown hair, green eyes, a S.H.I.E.L.D. lab uniform, and a noticeable British accent argued.

"No," Simmons insisted, "I said you could try, Jemma."

Jemma huffed in frustration. "That's the same thing! And besides, I passed!"

"There a problem here?" Quill asked as he walked up to the two.

Jemma puffed again before turning to Quill in surprise. "Whoa…"

Simmons stepped between the two, shaking his head emphatically. "Oohh no! You are _not_ getting anywhere near her, lover boy! Beat it!"

Quill folded his arms obstinately. "And why's that?"

"You're bad luck. I don't need that anywhere my niece."

Quill snickered in disbelief. " _Me_?! _I'm_ bad luck?! Whenever you're around an op, things go from bad to worse!"

"And that's just because _you're_ there!" Simmons argued, poking Quill on the shoulder.

"Oh really? I was nowhere _near_ you when that whole Iron Monger debacle started!"

"Uh, Jemma, what's going on?" a young man with short, curly brown hair asked as he walked up to the area.

Jemma shrugged lightly, not taking her eyes off Quill. "I have no idea, Fitz."

Fitz furrowed his brow in thought before gaping as he looked at Quill. "No way… you… you're him!"

Quill ceased his argument with Simmons and turned to Fitz, mildly confused. "I'm who exactly?"

"Everyone in the technology division calls you the Bionic Commando," Fitz remarked with a wide grin.

Quill flattened his brow incredulously. "Seriously…?"

"Please, please, you just _have_ to let me take a look at your Augs! Just one!"

"Uuhh…"

Jemma slapped Fitz's shoulder lightly. "Fitz, that's rude." She then turned to Quill with an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry about that. He doesn't know his boundaries."

"Ah… Who are you two again?"

"Oh, right. I'm Jemma Simmons, with the biology department of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scientific division." After a moment of silence, she then motioned to Fitz. "O – Oh, right, and he's Leopold Fitz."

Simmons then pushed Jemma and Quill away from each other. "That's quite enough of you talking."

Quill grumbled lightly before asking, "They part of my team?"

"No," Coulson answered as he walked up to the group.

"Then who are they?"

"Graduates."

"Ah," Quill mumbled in recognition. "So new Agents."

"Precisely. And they'll be getting transferred to the Hub after this."

"What's the Hub?"

"If you consider the Triskelion to be S.H.I.E.L.D.'s brain the Hub is its heart. Pretty much all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ops are set up and organized from the Hub. And many of its activities are based there."

"And due to the Triskelion's soon-to-be new project," Fury interjected as he approached the others, "it's where your team will be based from now on, Quill."

"Ah… guess these two will be boarding the 'Bus' then," Quill noted.

"If it's all the same to you. It'll mean less fuel being used up on other planes."

"Excuse me," a new voice added.

Quill turned and saw a plain, unassuming man with short black hair, a plain beard, and average clothes, holding an old, silver pocket watch.

"And you are…?" Quill questioned.

"This is doctor Ishiro Serizawa," Fury introduced. "He's a paleontologist who specializes in what we call gigafauna."

"So… a Kaiju scientist."

"Put simply, yes," Serizawa added. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to reach Janjira, Japan immediately. But none of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s standard flights leave soon enough."

"What for?"

"I work at a laboratory based there and they have been getting some strange readings. I have been asked to go and investigate the specimen."

Jemma immediately turned to him, her face alight with curiosity. "Did you say specimen?!" After a moment of thought. "No… way… You're Doctor Serizawa!"

Quill raised an eyebrow and turned to Coulson. "She doesn't seem to listen very well."

Coulson put up a hand lightly. "Let's not bring attention to it."

"Agreed."

Fitz rolled his eyes in exacerbation. "Oh here we go."

Jemma turned to him, annoyed. "Do _not_ take this from me, Fitz! This man is _the_ most well-known paleontologist on the planet! His discoveries in relation to prehistoric creatures are amazing enough, but his studies of Kaiju are monumental!"

Quill then frowned in thought before turning to Serizawa. "Doc… please tell me that lab of yours isn't breeding Kaiju or something."

Serizawa turned away and coughed weakly.

Quill sighed and turned to Fury. "Fury, I'm going to need Gipsy transported to this Janjira place just to be safe."

"It's not ready for use yet," Fury argued. "Besides, Romeo Blue is already stationed there. They can handle it."

With a sigh, Quill shrugged. "If you say so. Come on, let's get going before that thing hatches."

* * *

Fitz, his face marked with an ear-to-ear grin, looked around Omega's vehicle mode in astonishment. "I can't believe it… we're actually inside of a _real_ Transformer…" His words were punctuated with an excited squeal.

Quill turned to Jemma incredulously. "…Is he always like this?"

Jemma sighed. "He's a techie."

Simmons walked up to the duo and pushed them away from each other before staring down Quill. "I'll have you know, there will be absolutely no touching."

"Huh?" Quill mumbled in confusion before realizing who he was talking to. "Nuh-uh! You. Off! Now. I don't want Omega crash-landing or anything because you're onboard when we take off."

"There's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone with my niece inside an alien robot."

Jemma put a hand over her eyes and groaned heavily. "Just kill me…"

* * *

Quill walked up to one of the many bunk rooms inside Omega as they flew through the sky and motioned to it. "And this will be your room."

Jemma nodded with a smile. "Thanks."

"No, this one here," Simmons argued. "I don't want you that close to the Playboy."

"Oh come on," Quill groaned. "I'm not a Playboy. Well… not anymore."

"Yeah right. I know your type. You –" Simmons collapsed suddenly.

Gamora sighed in frustration. "Damn he's annoying."

"Damn right," Quill agreed.

Pointing to the bunk Quill selected, Jemma stated, "I think I'll take this one."

Fitz huffed lightly.

"Yeah, yeah," Rocket added, patting the man's leg.

* * *

As Omega entered the airspace over Japan, Quill glanced out the window. "Japan… birthplace of tentacle rape hentai."

"Which you experienced," Rocket noted with a snicker.

Quill pinched the rodent's mouth shut. "Shut. Up."

"Huh?" Jemma hummed in confusion.

"It was nothing!"

Rocket pulled his mouth free of Quill's grasp. "Oskavarian. Bunch o' tentacles and teeth."

"Ooh, sounds exciting," Jemma added with a smile.

Quill raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"N – Not that, I meant to study!"

"Rriigghhtt," Quill noted, unconvinced.

Jemma responded by pulling out a taser.

"Really?"

"Keep talking and I will," she warned.

Fitz gulped in fear. "She really will."

Quill chuckled and then added, "I think I'll like having you around."

Jemma blinked in confusion as she lowered her arm in surprise. "R – Really…?"

"Of course."

"How long until we reach Janjira?" Serizawa asked.

"I'd say about twenty minutes."

Serizawa rubbed the old watch in his hand worriedly. "Good."

* * *

"We'll be landing soon," Omega told the others as he banked to one side towards an airport.

"Good to hear," Quill answered with a stretch.

"I'll get us to the lab," Ironhide noted from the hangar.

"I'll get suited up."

"That won't be necessary," Serizawa interjected.

"Oooohh, I'm so excited!" Jemma exclaimed with anticipation.

"I hope this isn't messy," Fitz groaned.

* * *

As Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe drove into the limits of Janjira, Quill and the others inside their various vehicle modes, Quill looked around the old, overgrown, dilapidated buildings of the city.

"This city is a wreck," he noted with derision. "Did your overgrown pet do this?"

Serizawa shook his head. "The creature appeared her fifteen years ago, burrowing underneath the nuclear reactors for sustenance. What you see is merely the ravages of time."

"Guess that's what happens when no one cares, huh?"

"This creature is one that was originally discovered in the Philippines, a beast that feeds on radiation. We originally found it buried deep under a mineshaft. However, the mine collapsed, awakening the creature. It burrowed its way out of the mine and swam to this city where it attached itself to the reactors and began feeding on the power plant's radiation. It has been in a cocoon ever since."

"And you didn't think to kill it because…?"

"To study it, of course," Jemma pointed out. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study a Kaiju up close."

"Study its corpse."

"That only lets you see its biology. Like this, we can actually see how it all works."

As the Autobots pulled to a stop and the group stepped out, Quill then asked, "And when it wakes up?"

Serizawa pointed to the side, where Quill saw multiple long, thick wires suspended over a hole in the ground. "The cables can transfer enough voltage to cut a Transformer in half."

Quill looked around, unconvinced. "Let's hope it's enough."

* * *

As they approached the actual laboratory, Quill saw the beast's cocoon, a large, stone-like structure shaped like a giant claw, covered in luminescent divots. "I really should have brought my suit."

"That thing is ugly," Rocket noted with disgust.

Serizawa just sighed in frustration. "Let's go."

* * *

Inside the monitoring station, filled with many screens and multiple pieces of large equipment, Serizawa walked up to one of the scientists, looking over various monitors with different sets of information. "How is it?" Serizawa asked.

The scientist turned to him with a sigh. "The pulses it's releasing are happening even more frequently now. We're up to every fifteen minutes."

"That doesn't sound good," Quill noted.

"And there's something… new. The pulses are no longer mere shock waves. They release an electromagnetic pulse. And with each pulse it gets stronger. After a few more it might knock out our equipment."

"Uuhh… that's _very_ not good."

"How much radiation is left for it feed on?" Serizawa asked.

With a gulp, the scientist answered, "None, sir."

"Doc…" Quill mumbled, "why isn't there something _over_ the cocoon?"

"So we can see it," Serizawa answered.

The scientist paled as he looked at one of the monitors. "Wait, wait! No, this is too early!"

Energy began pulsing up the cocoon, loud vibrations emanating from it as the pulse got faster and faster before a loud flash emerged from the cocoon with a powerful shock wave, all electronics in the area flashing before going dark.

"Ah fuck…" Quill cursed in frustration, "I think the butterfly is about to hatch."

The large cocoon began cracking as chunks fell from it to the cavity below.

"We need to move, now!"

Serizawa clenched his fists. "… Kill it."

"Sir, but we can't just –!"

"I said kill it."

"… Yes, sir."

Several large cranes extended forward, suspending wires over the cocoon before they lit up brightly as energy surged through them, filling the area with light.

The group all stared at the smoking cocoon in anticipation before it cracked again.

"Shit!" Quill cursed. "Get that Jaeger moving, now!"

A large piece of the cocoon fell off as a massive, sixty-meter-tall, black and white, insect-like creature with four large arms, two thick legs, and two additional, smaller arms on its belly emerged from the cocoon and belted out a loud, deafening howl, mandibles on the sides of its lower jaw spreading as it roared.

"Oh shit… RB! Squash that bug!"

Suddenly, Romeo Blue entered the area, the ground shaking under its steps, making its way towards the beast as it howled.

"I hope that stops him…"

The Kaiju snarled and growled, attempting to stand up from the pit, stopped by the wires surrounding it. After crouching down, it reached up with its hook-shaped front arms and grabbed the wires before pulling, causing the many towers and catwalks they were attached on to collapse and fall.

"Ah crap. Doc, give the evac signal, now!"

Serizawa pressed a button on one of the consoles and shouted into a microphone, "Evacuate the facility! I repeat, evacuate the facility!"

"The hell is that thing!?" a nearby soldier shouted.

"MUTO," Quill stated.

"The frick's a mootoe?" Rocket asked in confusion.

"Massive, Unidentified, Terrestrial Organism. Like it? Thought it up on the fly."

The MUTO then howled loudly before its second set of arms stretched out wide before a second appendage expanded out, the arms turning into a pair of large wings.

"Of course it can fly…"

"We got him!" one of the Romeo Blue's pilots shouted as the machine sprinted towards MUTO before machine guns under its chest fired off, pelting MUTO with rounds.

MUTO roared before flapping its wings and diving at Romeo Blue, slamming into the machine with its head, sending Blue stumbling back through several of the dilapidated buildings behind it.

"Little bastard's tough." Blue raised its foot before slamming it forward at MUTO's head as the beast charged, knocking it off balance, causing it to crash into a building that toppled on it. Romeo Blue added to the attack with a barrage of shots.

MUTO howled loudly before bursting up through the debris, jumping into the air before hitting Romeo Blue with its feet, causing the machine to stumble back, before planting its feet on the ground and lunging forward, tackling the Jaeger down. MUTO then bellowed loudly in the machine's face.

Romeo Blue reared its fist back as panels on the forearm opened and the fingers clenched tightly. "Tracheal Break!" It then punched MUTO in the face, its fist extending outward, adding extra power to the punch and knocking MUTO to the side. "Eat that, you ugly bastard!"

"Wow…" Quill muttered in surprise.

MUTO growled before energy started pulsating from the base of its neck to its eyes, the pulse starting slow before becoming faster and faster, louder and louder.

"Oh shit, RB, get out of there! MUTO's up to something!"

MUTO lurched back before blasting a powerful sound burst that surged forward and slammed into Romeo Blue's torso, collapsing it partially and destroying the fin on its chest.

"Fuck…"

MUTO howled and flapped its wings as Romeo Blue stumbled around, trying to regain its balance, before dashing forward at the machine.

"Oh so not good…"

MUTO tackled Romeo Blue to the ground and raised its hooked arm to strike.

"You son of a…!" one of the pilots shouted. "Tracheal Break!" Romeo Blue prepared to strike with its fist again, but MUTO leaned back, dodging the strike, and then grabbed the machine's extended arm with its two smaller arms before swinging its clawed arm down, piercing the head of Romeo Blue, killing the pilots in the process.

"No!" Quill shouted.

MUTO reared back and howled before flapping its wings and taking off into the air, flying out of sight.

"This isn't good…" Rocket mumbled.

* * *

Quill and the others stood in the war room on Omega's vehicle mode, a small, semicircular room with a large LCD panel on the back wall, an LCD screen atop a table in the center, and a half-circle glass wall surrounding it with two doorways, trying to plan their next move. "We need to track this thing, now," Quill urged. "Any ideas?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has a bunch of orbital satellites," Fitz posited. "We could try using some of those."

"You really think Fury would let us use them?" Simmons argued.

"Ah… good point."

"Fury might not," Quill interjected, "but I know someone else who might let us use theirs."

* * *

Tony sat in his basement workshop, tinkering with another Iron Man suit when his phone started ringing. "Hello?"

"Hey, Tony, it's me," Quill answered from the other end.

"Ah. Wonder boy. How's it with Big Brother?"

"Very funny. Look, I sort of need… a little favor."

"Are we talking actual little favor, or little favor that'll have you working as my bellboy?"

Quill remained silent for a moment before sighing. "Little favor that'll have me working as your waiter."

"I'm listening."

"I'm sending you some images now. It's a Kaiju called MUTO."

Tony turned and looked at the images of MUTO on his screen. "Ugly mother trucker. Okay, so what do you need from me?"

"I need to use some of Stark Industries' satellites to track it."

"So let me get this straight… you want me… to let you use my satellites to track a giant flying bug monster?"

"Giant, radioactive, flying bug monster."

"Huh… sounds fun. Do it. Just, uh, don't tell Pepper."

"Don't tell Pepper what?" the woman in question asked as she entered Tony's basement.

"Busted."

"Heya Pep!" Quill greeted on the video call. "How's life?"

Pepper waved. "Hi Peter."

Tony turned to her, incredulous. "Whoa, whoa, he's Peter now?"

Ignoring Tony's question, she answered to Quill, "Much more irritating since you left."

"What'd Tony do now?" Quill asked.

"Sold all of his classic cars and now has this alien robot," she paused to point the camera at a four and one half meter tall, blue, black, and gold Autobot with a kabuto-shaped head dancing behind her, "living here."

"Yo, Drift! How ya doing?"

Drift stopped, turned to the screen, and bowed. "It is good to see you, Quill."

"I actually liked some of those cars!" Pepper groaned.

"Well…" Quill mumbled, "it was kinda smart selling them, given that the one was a Decepticon."

Pepper sighed with frustration. "I guess… you have a point. So, what are you doing?"

"Asking Tony if I can use his satellites to track a giant, prehistoric, flying, radioactive, bug monster."

"… You know, that doesn't surprise me as much as it should."

"Right? At any rate, I'll see if I can get an Autobot to be your car, Pep."

"Hey, uh, sorry," Tony interjected, "connection's breaking."

* * *

"That bastard hung up on me," Quill snarled.

"Well let's get hunting!" Simmons insisted.

* * *

"Okay… where are you…?" Quill mumbled as he tried to track MUTO. "Any all you can eat radiation buffets you near?"

Fitz then interjected, "There's been a report of a Russian nuclear sub going missing off the coast of Hawaii."

"Bingo. Call Fury and tell him to ready some Jaegers, and not just one this time. And make sure to tell him everything we know regarding MUTO's combat abilities."

"On it."

* * *

Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Simmons, Fitz, and Jemma made their way through a dense forest, searching for MUTO.

"So… this is the place?" Quill asked in confusion. "A damn jungle?"

"Freeze!" a soldier suddenly shouted as he and several others emerged from the foliage.

"Oh what now?"

"Identify yourselves!" a second soldier ordered.

"You start."

A third soldier sighed in annoyance. "We're with the United States military. Now you."

Simmons held up his badge. "S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh."

"And we're here," Quill interjected, "tracking a threat."

"Russian sub?"

"No. What made it disappear."

"What the fuck is that!?" another soldier shouted before opening fire at MUTO, which was nearby with the submarine in the trees, swallow nuclear material.

"That's our target. Fury! Where're those Jaegers!" Quill turned to the side and watched as Tacit Ronin emerged from the ocean waters, several attack and heavy helicopters flying overhead, firing a barrage of shots at MUTO. "Dammit, Fury! I said multiple Jaegers! One won't cut it!"

"We got this!" one of Tacit Ronin's pilots insisted before the Jaeger flicked its arms, long blades folding out. It then charged forth, firing multiple rounds the machine guns on its chest.

MUTO roared as the helicopters fired before energy started slowly pulsing in its right arm.

"Damn it!" Quill snarled as Tacit Ronin charged before punching MUTO, its Fang Blade extending simultaneously, knocking MUTO back but leaving no damage. Quill groaned heavily. "Did nobody get that report…?"

MUTO growled before slamming into Ronin with all its weight, knocking Ronin back, but not knocking it down.

"Well _this_ won't end well," Rocket noted.

Tacit Ronin then slashed hard at MUTO's back, carving a shallow gash in its back.

MUTO growled angrily before jumping into the air, curling its claws under Ronin's shoulders and lifting it off the ground.

Quill sighed heavily. "Call Fury and tell him we're about to lose another Jaeger."

"Follow them!" Fitz shouted. "I think they're heading for the city!"

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

MUTO eventually stopped, released Tacit Ronin, and then kicked the Jaeger, sending it crashing into several small buildings below.

The pilot groaned before snarling as MUTO floated overhead. "Okay, playtime's over!" Tacit Ronin reared up its legs, curled them, and then slammed its feet into MUTO's abdomen, knocking the beast to the ground and causing it to crash.

The beast growled as it stood before roaring loudly.

Tacit Ronin readied its blades and then smacked them together. "Bring it!"

MUTO roared before charging at the Jaeger.

Ronin stepped to the side of MUTO's charge before slicing at its back, carving another gash in the beast.

Standing near some buildings close to the battle, Quill raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Damn… they might actually pull this off."

MUTO reared back before letting out a loud, ear-splitting screech, causing Tacit Ronin's pilots to stumble before MUTO charged and punched Ronin with one of its clawed arms before backhanding it with the same arm, causing Ronin to stumble back and trip on a bridge at its feet.

"Shit…"

MUTO then pounced on the downed Tacit Ronin, though the Jaeger retaliated with one of its blades, managing to put a large gash in MUTO's jaw, causing the beast to howl pain before energy began pulsing in its head.

"Oh shit, here comes the sound blast! Get away from him now!"

MUTO reared back and then released a powerful sonic burst, pointblank, right in Ronin's face, completely crushing the head and the pilots inside.

Quill sighed heavily. "Call Fury. Tell him we need a Jaeger retrieval team. And next time send more than fucking one!"

Gamora frowned in confusion and looked down. "I'm wet."

"Not now."

Gamora smacked his arm and then pointed down. "No, look."

Quill looked down in confusion and saw water rushing past his feet before the ground shook.

"Oohh this ain't go'n be good," Quill muttered as people around them screamed as MUTO howled, only to get silent when they heard a loud stomp.

MUTO turned before crouching down and releasing a weak growl as Godzilla crushed a helicopter underfoot.

The massive Kaiju growled angrily before releasing a loud, bellowing roar.

MUTO howled and then charged at Godzilla, only for the green monster to backhand MUTO, knocking it to the side. The winged creature stood up and growled before energy started pulsing in its eyes. It reared back and then fired the sonic blast at Godzilla, however it had little effect other than sliding Godzilla back several meters.

"I need popcorn," Quill mumbled.

MUTO stepped back slowly, seemingly in thought, before turning to fly away but is caught by Godzilla biting down on its wing, turning, and then throwing MUTO at a nearby airport.

Blue energy then quickly shot up Godzilla's spines before he fired a stream of blue flames out at MUTO.

MUTO screeched in pain before grabbing a nearby jumbo jet and throwing it at Godzilla, knocking away the beast's attention long enough to fly away.

Godzilla roared loudly before making his way back into the ocean.

"Aaww…" Quill moaned in disappointment. "I was hoping he'd eat MUTO."

"Now what?" Gamora asked.

"We call this in."

* * *

Fury sighed heavily as he stood in a large conference room, speaking with Pentecost. "So this thing flew hundreds of thousands of miles, destroyed two Jaegers, and only decided to retreat when faced with Godzilla. Just how ill-prepared _was_ the Jaeger Program?"

"Honestly?" Pentecost asked with a sigh. "We had no real-world data on the capabilities or size of the creatures we're fighting. All we had were rumors and old photos."

"I told you to send more than one," Quill interjected.

"As it stands, we've only got four Jaegers left, and only three that are combat ready."

Quill merely sighed.

"I may have a recommendation," Serizawa added.

"And that is…?" Fury asked.

"I believe that Godzilla is hunting the MUTO."

"Well that's obvious," Quill added.

"I also believe that nature has a balance, and a mechanism for correcting that balance should it fall apart. And he, Godzilla, is that mechanism.

"So, what?" Fury rebutted. "You're suggesting that we just let that giant lizard and the big bug duke it out?"

With a shrug, Quill commented, "Sounds good to me. With some careful planning we could even set up where they fight."

"And just how do you propose we do that?"

"A nuke," Pentecost imported. "We lure them with a nuclear bomb and then detonate it, killing both."

"You don't seriously think that'll work, do you?" Quill asked, incredulous.

"The sheer force of the blast would destroy their bodies."

"And I don't think it'll work."

"I agree," Serizawa interceded. "Please, Director, do not resort to nuclear weapons."

"Yeah, besides, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't be able to cover up the fallout from a nuclear bomb."

At that moment, Fitz suddenly sprinted in the room, tripping slightly, but catching himself, Jemma following seconds behind. "I – I think you all need to see this," he mentioned.

"See what, Agent?" Fury asked.

"Can we use your big screen?" Jemma asked.

Fury shrugged and motioned to it.

Jemma nodded as several images appeared on the screen.

"Now," Fitz began, "I know we shouldn't have done it, but we copied some of Dr. Serizawa's data from the MUTO while it was cocooned." He then brought up a graph of wave patterns.

"And…?" Fury asked impatiently.

"Those are the pulse readings from the MUTO," Serizawa explained.

"Dr., if I may," Jemma interjected. "These aren't mere energy pulses. They're sound waves. Like echolocation. This thing wasn't just pulsing energy. It was talking. To something."

"Hold on," Fury stepped in, "talking to what? Godzilla?"

"No, sir." She then turned to Serizawa. "Doctor, remember how the MUTO suddenly released that powerful EMP ahead of the expected moment?"

"I do…" Serizawa answered, mildly confused.

"We believe," Fitz added, "we may know why." Scrolling the graph of waves along slowly, Fitz commented, "For a long while, it's just the MUTO's signal. But then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a second signal appeared." He stopped on the graph where, for a brief moment, there were two waves almost identical right next to each other. "Equivalent pattern, opposite frequency."

Serizawa narrowed his eyes in thought before widening them in horrified realization. "Oh no…"

"Wild guess," Quill added, "there are more of them."

"In the Philippines, when we found the egg the MUTO came from, there was a second in that mine. At the time, I believed it dormant."

Jemma stiffened. "Doctor, may I pose a wild theory?"

Serizawa nodded.

"In some species of insect, the females are born already carrying eggs, simply waiting for a mature male to fertilize them. What if the other MUTO, the one that hatched, was a male, and the one that didn't was a female, simply waiting for the male to mature?"

"Ah crap," Quill groaned. "Where'd the spore go, Nick?"

"A nuclear waste repository located in Yucca Mountain, northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada."

"… Dumbass. We need Jaegers down there now. More than one. We can't have baby MUTOs digging around!"

Coulson then walked in and pointed to the television. "News. Now."

"Let me guess, Yucca Mountain just blew up."

"Worse."

After switching to the news, the group saw video footage of another MUTO, much larger than the other and without wings, walking through Las Vegas, destroying the city as it moved.

"As you can see," a reporter in a helicopter above the beast related, "the creature that emerged from Yucca Mountain is now tearing through Las Vegas. It appears to be in excess of ninety meters in height."

"I see…" Quill muttered. "Mama's bigger than Papa. Hopefully they're like praying mantises."

"This is a problem," Coulson interrupted. "The whole nation knows about this thing. We need to fix it, fast."

"Yeah, well it's too bad the Jaegers aren't worth a hill of beans. The only thing that can stop those bastards is… Hey, think we can bring big green in for a meal of two bugs? One if Mama eats the other one."

"Not a chance," Pentecost argued. "If those creatures fight, millions of people will die."

"And if the big one lays eggs, billions will. So take your pick. Personally, I'd rather deal with one Godzilla instead of an army of MUTOs."

"Quill's right," Fury added. "Scramble all available Jaegers we have left and work double-time on getting Gipsy ready. Prepare a load of uranium and use it to lure the MUTOs to as secluded an area as possible. If Quill and the Doctor are right, Godzilla should follow."

"It's a giant lizard and those two bugs are a meal ticket. Of course he'll follow."

"And what about when they're gone?" Pentecost challenged.

"Haven't you been paying attention? In the arctic, after Godzilla removed Gipsy as a threat, he just left. And in Hawaii, when the male MUTO ran away, Godzilla immediately followed. Us, humans," glancing at Gamora as she coughed, "and, uh, nonhumans, we're not interesting to him. He doesn't care about us. All he cares about is his next meal."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning we keep off him. Like Banner."

"We don't have long," Fury added. "We need to work fast. Current models predict the MUTOs will meet in twelve hours."

* * *

"Are we really taking orders from that guy?" a young man with short blonde hair and an Australian accent asked as he spoke with Pentecost.

Pentecost sighed and turned to him, annoyed. "Yes, Chuck Hansen, we are. Now you and your father suit up and get ready to launch Striker Eureka."

"Tch. Yes, sir."

Pentecost turned, having to do a double take, when Quill walked in, clad in his Mjolnir armor rather than the normal pilot suit. "What the _hell_ is that?"

"My suit," Quill explained. "I had Jackie put all those sensors in it."

"… Fine, as long as it works."

* * *

Coulson walked down a long hallway with Duke, Ripcord, and the other Joes as Duke turned to him, confused and annoyed.

"You mind telling me what's going on?" Duke asked.

Coulson turned to him and answered, "We've got a giant lizard and two giant bugs set to converge on the western seaboard. If they do, then millions of people will die while they duke it out. So our job is to gather a bunch of radioactive material, cart it out to a Californian desert, and then watch the Kaiju Big Battle."

"That sounds awesome," Ripcord noted with enthusiasm.

"As long as you're not in the middle of it, it should be. Also, your team, the Joes, will be guiding the materials to their destination."

Ripcord gulped slightly. "We, uh, we gettin' radsuits and hazard pay for this, right?"

"Who said anything about getting paid?"

Ripcord whimpered lightly.

"I'm only joking. You get paid. Just not hazard pay."

"If I become a giant monster, I'm suing."

"If that happens you'll be going in the Slingshot."

"… The what?"

"A series of rockets that get a one-way ticket to the sun."

"Ah…"

* * *

"That's a helluva box," Roadblock mumbled as he looked at a giant, black, square box.

Snake Eyes nodded silently in agreement.

"Is it… safe?" Flint asked apprehensively. "Is it safe to be near that thing?"

Breaker walked up to the box with a Geiger counter. "I'm not reading any radioactive signals from it. Not dangerously high ones anyway. So it should be safe."

"Famous last words," Duke chided.

"Yippee," Roadblock deadpanned. "I've always wanted to grow a third head."

"Yeah…" Ripcord muttered with a chuckle before furrowing his brow in confusion. "Wait, _third_ head?"

"What?"

"Uh, n – nothing… nothing."

Jaye then walked towards the others. "We're ready to move out. Optimus has a trailer prepared to transport the cargo, a guard team's been set up, and the drop zone's been designated."

"Right," Scarlett replied.

"Let's move," Duke ordered. "Yo Joe!"

* * *

Quill groaned as he stood in Gipsy's cockpit with smoke filling the area. "Okay, now what?"

Choi sighed. "Well, to put it simply, you're too good."

"Uuhh… come again?"

"Your movements. They're too fast, too fluid. The system can't keep up, so it tries to compensate, but this causes the joints to catch… and then they blow."

"Well… fuck… Hey, Tendo! Where's the AI chip for this thing?"

"Uh… on your left… under the panel marked maintenance… why…?"

"Thanks! Cor, wanna give Gipsy a try?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Cortana asked playfully as he pulled her disk from his helmet.

Walking off the platform, he walked over to the maintenance panel, pulled it off, and then pulled out the AI chip.

"W – Wait!" Choi urged. "What are you –?!"

He then plugged Cortana's disc into Gipsy Danger. "And…"

"Start," Cortana announced.

"Start?" Choi asked, perplexed. "Start what?"

"Gipsy, duh."

"Uh, right. Spinning up generator… now."

"Already on it."

Quill made his way back to the central platform and locked himself onto it. "Alright, Babe, let's see if you're any faster than their AI."

A hologram of Cortana appeared inside the cockpit before smirking. "Oh, I am."

"Uh, right," Choi muttered in mild confusion. "Let's start with some basic movement tests."

Quill lifted a hand and shook it lightly.

"Huh…" Choi mumbled as he looked at several of the monitors around him. "The delay's dropped to almost zero. Okay, try something a little complicated."

"Like this?" Quill then made a simple gesture of rock-paper-scissors.

"I sort of meant like full body movements." Tapping a few more buttons on the panels, Choi added, "Just… no hip thrusts this time."

"Got it." Quill then proceeded to make the Jaeger do the Macarena.

"You gotta admit," a bespectacled man with black hair noted as he stood next to Choi, "he's got style."

Choi sighed. "Shut up Newton."

"Now that Cossack thing!" Quill exclaimed with excitement. "Or maybe breakdancing."

"Can we stick to combat maneuvers, please?"

Quill snickered in amusement. "Alright, alright."

Choi sat and observed the various monitors as Quill took Gipsy through different punches, kicks, and other attacks. "Well I'm impressed. That new AI you've got in there can keep up with even your fastest maneuvers. Unfortunately, it's the machine itself that's the problem now."

"Just great…"

"The system tracks and transmits your movements perfectly, but the machine's joints and servos can't keep up. I tried increasing their output a little to compensate, but if I do so any further, they'll blow up."

Quill sighed in annoyance. "Great. So we need an upgrade and a complete overhaul. Jackie!"

"Yes?" Wheeljack asked as he entered the large room on an oversized catwalk.

"Gipsy needs upgrades. Faster, stronger joints, better armor, improved weapons, the works. Go crazy. And maybe add an Eezo core. Can you do it?"

Wheeljack stretched his fingers and then nodded. "There's no question I can do it. It's just how long you're willing to wait."

"Uh… really? Damn. Just try and get it done as quick as you can."

* * *

Duke sat in Optimus' cab with Ripcord, Roadblock, Jaye, and Scarlett as they, Ultra Magnus, and several S.H.I.E.L.D. SUVs traveled along the highway. "Hey, Prime, I've been wondering something."

"What is it, Duke?" Optimus asked.

"Why didn't we use your teleporter thing?"

"Simple. The amount of uranium we're transporting may interfere with the Ground Bridge and, if we were lucky, send us to a random location."

"That ain't good…" Ripcord mumbled.

"And if we weren't?" Duke asked.

Optimus answered, "It would rip us apart at the subatomic level."

Ripcord gulped in fear. "Let's not use the robo Stargate."

* * *

Quill sighed as he sat in a break room inside the Hub. "Any updates on the MUTOs?"

"We've sort of…" Fitz mumbled, "lost track of the male."

"… It'd probably be optimistic to say Godzilla ate him."

Jemma chimed in, "Considering that a US battlegroup is traveling with Godzilla at this moment, that's unlikely."

Quill turned to her incredulous, and slightly concerned. "… Please tell me you know what sarcasm is."

Jemma glanced at him confused. "I've… heard of it before…"

"… Do you know I was being sarcastic about the eating thing?"

"Oh…"

"Anyway, we don't know where the male is. Which is very hard to lose. Unless… it went underground…"

* * *

 **And cut! That brings the seventh chapter of Guardians of Earth to an end. I desire that everyone, or at least most of you, enjoyed the chapter. Be sure to let me know if you did by posting a review. If you were confused or unsure of anything or simply have questions about the story, also post them as a review and I will do my best to address your concerns. If you did not enjoy it, I would suggest you do something you actually do enjoy, but if you must, I would appreciate a review that is more than just castigation. I have nothing else to add, so until the next chapter, buh-bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

 **Hello and greetings to all! Yes, yet again my obsession with Guardians of Earth has come up. Hopefully it is not a problem. I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, some of you did at least. I also hope you enjoy this chapter, so be sure to post a review if you do. As usual I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all his help with this story, and others, and his continued aid in their creation. Well, time to move on to reviewer responses, hm?**

 **Xenoguyver: I'm glad you had so much fun with it. And blending all of the worlds of a story together seamlessly is my goal. I don't like to keep the worlds "together-but-separate" like some writers do. I like to fully mesh them together. Well I guess you'll get that chance now, hm?**

 **Ultimate-Zelda-Fan: No, Dirty Grandpa isn't my kind of movie. I just happen to think the Macarena is a funny dance. And seeing a 260 foot tall giant robot do it is an irresistible image.**

 **That's your personal belief. I thought G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra was a great and fun ride. G.I. Joe: Retaliation was less so but I still enjoyed it. As mentioned in an earlier chapter, before I watched Guardians of the Galaxy, Duke was going to be the main character of this story. And to be honest, the G.I. Joe movies are what made me really come to like the series. Just like it was the Transformers movies that rekindled my long-dead love of Transformers.**

 **Not too many this time but the number is increasing, and that is always nice to see. Keep them coming, I love it! So without further adieu, we should probably get to what you people really came here for.**

* * *

Quill sighed as he sat in a break room inside the Hub. "Any updates on the MUTOs?"

"We've sort of…" Fitz mumbled, "lost track of the male."

"… It'd probably be optimistic to say Godzilla ate him."

Jemma chimed in, "Considering that a US battlegroup is traveling with Godzilla at this moment, that's unlikely."

Quill turned to her incredulous, and slightly concerned. "… Please tell me you know what sarcasm is."

Jemma glanced at him confused. "I've… heard of it before…"

"… Do you know I was being sarcastic about the eating thing?"

"Oh…"

"Anyway, we don't know where the male is. Which is very hard to lose. Unless… it went underground…"

"Uh-oh…" Fitz mumbled.

"Uh-oh? What uh-oh?"

"A commercial airliner was just knocked out of the sky by a shortrange EMP."

"So… it's not underground?"

"No, it's flying through the air."

"… Then how the hell'd we lose it to begin with?!"

"The Pacific Ocean is experiencing severe storms right now," Jemma explained as Natasha walked into the room.

"He's probably using the storms as cover from our satellites," Natasha added.

Quill folded his arms in thought. "… Can anyone track his radiation signature?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is calibrating their satellites to look for the signal."

Narrowing his eyes in thought, Quill turned to Fitz and asked, "Are we still using the ones Stark has?"

"Already… done!" Fitz answered. "The male just passed over the halfway point between Asia and North America."

"Ah great… and the big one?"

* * *

As Duke's group drove along a mountain road, Ultra Magnus suddenly stopped and transformed to robot mode before flying up.

"What's wrong with him?" Ripcord asked in confusion.

Suddenly, the female MUTO appeared over the top of the mountain and smacked Magnus away with her secondary arms before roaring at Optimus' group.

"Oh shit…"

"Prime!" Duke shouted, "Evade!"

The female MUTO roared before slamming her clawed arm down, causing the road to collapse and the ground beneath it to fall out.

Optimus swiftly turned and tried to evade the female, but she reached down with her abdominal arms and grabbed his trailer before lifting it into the air.

"Shit…" Scarlett cursed in realization. "She's after the uranium!"

"Prime!" Duke shouted franticly.

Optimus transformed, detaching from his trailer and dropping the Joes, before turning and firing his Magma Frag Launcher at the female MUTO's face.

The beast growled angrily before Magnus flew over, shooting the trailer with his Scrapmaker, causing the two boxes of uranium within to fall, grabbing them as they did.

The female MUTO growled and smacked Magnus with one of her abdominal arms, causing him to drop one of the boxes, which she promptly grabbed and then ate.

Magnus immediately turned and flew away with the other box, the female MUTO following and causing the road underneath Optimus and the others to collapse.

"Hang on!" Optimus shouted as he grabbed the five Joes and jumped, trying his best to remain steady as he slid down the mountain, only to get knocked out by a large boulder hitting him from behind.

* * *

"We there yet?" Quill asked as he sat in Omega's lounge, directly next to the war room. His questions were interrupted as his phone rang. Picking it up curiously, he asked, "Hello?"

Scarlett, on the other end, gasped and groaned heavily. "Sh – She has it…"

"Has it? Who has what?"

"The female MUTO… she took some of the uranium."

"Oohh crap…"

"What's wrong?" Gamora asked as she walked up to him.

"Big Mama got dinner early."

"Uh-oh…" Jemma muttered in worry.

"Magnus," Scarlett continued, "Magnus has the other crate."

"Good," Quill replied. "Hopefully he can keep it safe. Omega! Get us to Scarlett's location! They need pick up!"

"I am heading there now," Omega answered.

* * *

Optimus groaned as he awoke, covered in mud, and shook his head before looking around. "That… was a disaster…"

"Everyone alive?" Duke shouted out as he stood up.

Ripcord grumbled as he looked around. "I… think so."

Roadblock growled as he lifted a chunk of pavement off his head. "Yeah, I'm alive."

"Okay," Duke began, "we need to get evac and then find Magnus before that thing takes the other uranium case."

"Someone call for a Bus?" Quill shouted over the coms as Omega landed nearby.

Optimus nodded and turned to Duke and the others. "Let's roll!"

* * *

Magnus groaned quietly as he hid behind a large boulder, the uranium case in his arms. "I must keep it away from her…"

Nearby, the female MUTO stomped around, crushing trees underfoot as she chirped repeatedly. Glancing to the side she chirped one more time.

Magnus stiffened as the chirping stopped before the boulder he hid behind exploded as the female MUTO swiped it with a loud roar.

"Slag!" Magnus snarled before firing his thrusters and flying into the air.

The female swung one of her pointed arms at Magnus, knocking him out of the air and causing him to crash into several trees.

Rolling to a stand, Magnus readied his Nucleon Shock Cannon and fired it at the female MUTO, hitting her in the head with a powerful blast of energy.

The female roared angrily only for two more shots from a Nucleon Shock Cannon to hit her from behind. Turning with a growl, she saw Omega Supreme flying overhead, pelting her with blasts. She stumbled back and roared in pain as one of the shots hit her eye.

Magnus fired one last shot before leaping into the air and flying up at Omega unsteadily, slamming into the hangar roughly before the door closed.

"It is good to see you still function, Ultra Magnus," Omega noted.

With a cough, Magnus answered, "I do, but just barely. Let's get away before that thing attacks again."

"Acknowledged," Omega replied before firing two more shots and flying away at high speed.

* * *

"So she got one of the crates?" Fury asked on a video call to Quill and the others.

"Yeah, she did," Quill answered.

"You managed to keep at least one of them, right?"

"Yeah, we did. It's here in Omega."

"Good. Take it to the desert, the –" Fury's voice cut out momentarily as the video signal was disrupted. "… follow. You need… the… it?" The video then cut out entirely.

"Uh, Fury?"

Omega then suddenly ordered, "Hang on to something."

"What f –?" Quill asked, only for Omega to shake violently. "What the _hell_ was that?!"

"The male MUTO just crashed into me."

"How'd he get here so fast?!"

"Open the hangar!" Magnus, on a video feed from the hangar, ordered. "I'll hold him off!"

"Affirmative," Omega answered.

* * *

Magnus leapt out from Omega's hangar bay before firing off his thrusters and charging at the male MUTO, readying an Ion Displacer on one arm and a Nucleon Shock Cannon on the other. "Let's do this." He began firing volleys from the Ion Displacer with occasional blasts from the Nucleon Shock Cannon, shooting the male MUTO. Turning to Omega, he shouted, "Go!"

Omega's engines fired up hard and he took off swiftly.

Magnus rushed towards the male MUTO and landed on his back, readying both weapons. "Time to deactivate."

* * *

"Dammit!" Quill cursed as he punched a wall. "This sucks! I can't do a damn thing here! Those things are just too damn big… _Why_ are they so damn big…?"

Duke clenched his fingers as he sat. "When that thing stepped over us… I saw them…"

"Saw what?"

"A glowing bulge… filled with… creatures…"

"… The egg sac…"

Duke nodded slowly.

"Well we know what to shoot first."

"This isn't good," Scarlett injected. "If she already has babies we're in trouble."

"I think they still need dad to really get moving."

Suddenly the com system beeped repeatedly.

Quill furrowed a brow as he walked into the war room and pressed a button on the table console, causing a video of Wheeljack to appear.

"Quill?" Wheeljack asked.

"Who else?" Quill rebutted.

"I'm nearly finished with the Gipsy's upgrades, but I have a couple questions."

"Okay, shoot."

"The chain swords on Gipsy Danger, they don't have a chance of getting through the skin of something like Godzilla. If I upgraded them with some Vibranium and added a high-frequency vibration function to them, they might be able to. We've got a little bit of it left."

"… Do it."

"Got it," Wheeljack replied with a nod before cutting the feed.

Quill sighed heavily before turning to the others. "Any news on Magnus?"

Fitz shook his head. "No, nothing."

"Hey guys," Jaye suddenly interrupted, "I think we've got a problem."

Rocket groaned and turned to her. "What is it now?"

"Didn't you say the MUTOs were attracted to nuclear energy?"

"Something like that," Quill answered. "Why…?"

"Because the female just changed course and is making a beeline for San Francisco."

"Well… that's not good…"

Jemma furrowed her brow in thought. "Temperate climate, steady temperature, high humidity, close to the ocean. Oh no… I think… she's planning on laying her eggs there."

"Shit. We need to get there now. Omega! Change course to San Francisco!"

"Understood," Omega answered before turning.

* * *

"Yes, you heard me right," Fury answered with annoyance as he spoke to San Francisco's governor, "get that city evacuated! Now!"

At that moment, Hawk and Pentecost then walked into the room.

"Fury," Hawk began, "the rest of my men are set and ready to deploy."

Pentecost nodded. "And all remaining Jaegers but Gipsy are armed and ready, sir."

"Good," Fury replied. "And remind them not to engage Godzilla when he shows up."

Pentecost frowned in confusion. "Sorry, but could you repeat that, sir?"

"If Godzilla shows, do not engage him."

"You cannot be serious with that order, sir."

"Oh I'm dead serious. So long as your men don't do anything stupid, Godzilla should kill the MUTOs and then move on. But if they do, he will see them as a threat and we will be down to no Jaegers left."

"… Yes, sir."

* * *

"Sod that!" Chuck shouted angrily. "You're trying to tell me we're just going to ignore that big green bastard!?"

Pentecost sighed heavily. "Yes soldier, that is exactly what you will do. Direct orders from Director Fury. Believe me, they're as absurd to me as they are to you. But orders are orders. The seven of you are the only Rangers we have left, so suit up and get in your Jaegers."

Another man, significantly older than Chuck, with short blonde hair and several scars, walked up to Pentecost. "And what about Quill?"

"His Jaeger's not ready yet, Hercules."

* * *

"What do you mean it's not ready yet!?" Quill shouted as he spoke with Wheeljack.

"Applying the diamond coating takes time," the Autobot scientist answered.

"Dammit! Time is the one thing we don't have." The com panel then began to beep loudly. "Geez, hang on Jackie, another call. Hello?"

Magnus, damaged and exhausted, stated weakly, "We have… a problem…"

"You alright Magnus?"

"Y – Yes, just barely… But… it's the MUTO… He's still alive. And now…"

"What?"

"Thundercracker… Thundercracker showed up and… injected him with something. After that it flew away."

"Oh that can't be good…"

"What's the female doing?"

"Heading for San Francisco."

Jemma suddenly sat up and added, "Wait, what the Deceptions got to her too?"

"Yeah, maybe. And it's Decepticons. And if they did, we are in some serious shit."

* * *

Quill looked out of the windshield of Omega's vehicle mode as they flew over San Francisco. "Okay… we're in Frisco… now where's the MUTO? It should be…"

Suddenly, a building on the edge of the city collapsed as the female MUTO smashed through it.

"There's one. Now where's the –?"

Quill was interrupted as the male MUTO slammed into Omega Supreme again.

"Shit! Omega! Top guns!"

The male MUTO wrapped his jaws around one of Omega's wings and then slammed Omega's fuselage with his feet, causing Omega to tumble uncontrollably.

"I would advise strapping in," Omega warned before his wing clipped a building and he hit the ground, sliding along the road, taking out dozens of vehicles as he did.

"Ooww…" Quill groaned as he sat in his seat. "Is everyone in one piece…?"

"I am Groot," the tree-man answered as he slowly reattached one of his severed arms.

"Yeah," Rocket answered with snarl.

"How 'bout you big guy?" Quill asked loudly.

"That creature broke one of my wings," Omega answered, "but I still function."

"Good."

"The male is coming, everyone get out so I can transform."

"Way ahead of you."

Quill, Gamora, Bumblebee, and the others all exited Omega's hangar before the large Autobot transformed, turned, and punched the charging male MUTO. "Target MUTO: Identified. Recommendation: Complete Termination."

"Kick his ass!" Quill shouted.

"Understood." Omega's arms began shifting before his left arm transformed into a massive cannon and his right arm became a long cylinder with three large fingers.

"Okay, that's badass."

Omega raised his left arm and fired a powerful beam of energy at the male MUTO.

Gamora then tapped Quill's shoulder. "Quill, look!"

Quill turned to see Striker Eureka, Crimson Typhoon, and Cherno Alpha emerge from the ocean and quickly make their way through the city. "Hell yeah!"

* * *

Inside Cherno Alpha, its two pilots made the machine move as they walked towards the two MUTOs.

"Nobody said anything about fighting in the city," a woman with combed back white hair commented in annoyance.

"We don't have a choice, Sasha," a man with combed back white hair and a thin beard responded. "Monsters come, we squish them."

Sasha smirked and retorted, "That I can agree to, Aleksis."

"Yes, and these ones actually are bugs."

* * *

Outside, the male MUTO turned to the three Jaegers and roared loudly.

"We take the male first," Hercules ordered to the other pilots, "and then go for the female."

"Roger," Sasha answered.

"Let's go!" one of Crimson Typhoon's three pilots, Jin, replied before the red Jaeger darted forward.

The male MUTO began charging his sonic blast but was interrupted by a punch to the head from Omega.

"Whoa!" Chuck exclaimed. "Where'd that Jaeger come from!?"

"That's not a Jaeger," Hercules rebutted. "It's one of the Autobots."

"Damn he's big."

Cherno Alpha charged forward, raising one of its oversized fists, and then swung forward, its arm extending to add to the impact to the male MUTO's head, sending it tumbling back.

Omega then aimed his right arm at the male MUTO, an orb of energy appearing in his grip that then lifted the male MUTO up off that ground.

The male looked around and screeched in confusion before Omega repeatedly slammed him into the ground.

"We're ready!" another of Crimson Typhoon's pilots, Hu, shouted before the red Jaeger's three hands turned into sawblades as it charged at the suspended male MUTO.

Omega then swung the male MUTO towards Crimson Typhoon, only for the MUTO to launch a sonic blast that knocked Typhoon back and freed him from Omega's grasp.

The MUTO growled lowly before slowly backing away from the group.

"Boom bitch!" Chuck shouted as Striker Eureka's chest opened, revealing six missiles launchers, two of which fired missiles at the male MUTO.

The male screeched in pain before raising its claw.

Omega fired a beam from his left arm, knocking the male off balance before it release the EMP, but Omega was then picked up from behind by the female MUTO who threw him at a nearby building.

"Ah crap," Quill groaned as Cherno Alpha charged at the female.

The female MUTO turned and lazily hit Alpha with the back of her claw, sending the bulky Jaeger tumbling.

"Ow…" Aleksis groaned as Cherno stood back up.

Crimson Typhoon then charged at the female MUTO swinging several times with all three bladed hands, but the female dodged easily despite her immense size and then grabbed the relatively smaller Jaeger with her clawed arms.

"Oh no you don't!" Hercules shouted as Striker Eureka fired two more missiles which the female easily deflected with her pointed arms before biting down on Typhoon's head, crushing the pilots within.

"There goes another one…" Quill groaned.

"Dammit!" Chuck snarled. "Typhoon's down!"

The female MUTO roared loudly as the male grabbed the uranium case from the unconscious Omega.

"Ah great," Quill groused.

The two Kaiju then disappeared into a large cloud of dust.

"Oh come on!"

"Where are they going?" Chuck asked.

"No idea, but we can't let them get away!"

"What are they doing?" Sasha questioned.

"They're a male and female pair! What do you think!?"

"Vot der'mo," Aleksis snarled.

"Let's move!" Hercules ordered.

"Right!" Chuck agreed as the two Jaegers started charging, only for the male MUTO to emerge moments later.

"Oh shit!" Hercules cursed as the male MUTO flew towards the two Jaegers, clotheslining them both, knocking them to the ground hard.

The male landed, slid, and then turned and released several taunting chirps.

"I think he's toying with us," Hercules noted as Striker and Cherno stood. "Hey, Aleksis, Sasha, let's squash this bug."

Cherno Alpha responded by slamming its fists together.

The male MUTO howled before launching with his feet and flying towards the two Jaegers.

Cherno charged forward, reared up a fist, and then swung down as MUTO approached, slamming its down atop the Kaiju's head, adding the extending punch to smash MUTO against the ground.

The Kaiju snarled, planted his claws on the ground, and kicked up with his feet, slamming into Cherno's torso.

Striker slid to stop and opened its chest, firing six missiles at once at MUTO.

MUTO roared and flew up, evading the missiles but his foot was grabbed by Cherno which proceeded to slam the beast against the ground. He kicked the Jaeger's head repeatedly before standing, only to get punched in the face by Striker.

"Eat the Brass Knuckles!" Chuck said with a grin before Striker punched MUTO with its other fist, slamming the beast against a building. "Piss off!" Striker raised its foot and then slammed it against MUTO, causing the building to collapse atop the Kaiju.

Striker then jumped back, opened its chest, and fired six missiles at MUTO again, consuming the monster in a large fireball.

"Yyeeaahh!"

The Rangers' glee was short-lived as MUTO flew up out of the fireball, slightly burned but largely unharmed.

"Oh come on! What's it gonna take to kill this thing!?"

MUTO then folded its wings and dropped, bodyslamming Striker to the ground before he began swiftly and repeatedly pecking the machine with his abdominal arms.

Cherno rushed forward, wrapped its large hands around MUTO, picked it up, and then slammed it against the ground.

Striker stood and then flicked its arms, causing two sets of dual-blades to emerge from its forearms.

"Stinger Blades!" Chuck and Hercules both shouted before swinging the blades at the male MUTO.

MUTO ducked under Striker's swing and then head-butted the machine, knocking it back, but Cherno slammed both its fists onto the Kaiju's back, knocking it to the ground.

Cherno raised and angled an arm before extending and retracting its arm over and over like a jackhammer, hitting MUTO multiple times.

MUTO swung its wing out forcefully, knocking Cherno Alpha off its feet, and then bucked the Jaeger, sending it sailing away, crashing through several office buildings.

Striker fired its back-mounted thrusters and raced towards the MUTO, but he deftly leapt over the Jaeger before hooking his claws under its shoulders, picking the Jaeger off the ground.

"Dammit!" Hercules cursed. "We can't hit him from this angle!"

MUTO flew towards Cherno as it stood and then chucked Striker at the other Jaeger, causing both to hit the ground and take out several nearby buildings.

As the two Jaegers stood, energy started pulsing on MUTO's head.

"Shit, go!" Quill shouted.

The two Jaegers immediately started charging for MUTO but he reared back and then shot a column of powerful sound waves at the two.

Aleksis narrowed his eyes inside Cherno Alpha before it pushed Striker Eureka to the ground, getting hit by the column of sound.

"Cherno!" Chuck shouted.

"Kill… that… bastard…" Aleksis said with strain before the blast of sound tore straight through Cherno's core and cockpit, killing Sasha and Aleksis.

As Cherno dropped to the ground, Striker Eureka stood and turned to MUTO.

"You're dead, you ugly motherfucker!" Chuck before Striker bolted towards MUTO.

MUTO jumped up as Striker slashed at him, but it then reached up, grabbed one of his wings, and then swung its blade up, carving the wing off.

The Kaiju screeched in pain before Striker grabbed him by the jaw and punched his head repeatedly. Striker then stabbed one of its swords into the wound where his wing had been and then used it as leverage to throw MUTO at a building.

"Eat that, you bastard."

MUTO stood up and growled as energy started pulsing in his claws.

Striker immediately charged forward, blades ready.

MUTO raised his claws and then slammed them down, causing energy to pulse out in all directions.

Striker's speed slowed down before the Jaeger slowed to a stop.

"Oh shit… that was an EMP!" Chuck growled.

"Dammit," Hercules cursed before disconnecting from the central platform. "I'll have to restart it manually."

"Wait, Dad, don't disconnect!" Chuck shouted as MUTO charged before tackling Striker, causing it to slam against a building.

"Gah!" Hercules howled in pain as the impact sent him slamming against several of the walls, knocking him unconscious.

Quill tightened his fists before shouting into a radio. "Fury! Where's Gipsy!?"

Almost immediately, a Land Bridge opened nearby and several helicopters flew out of it carrying Gipsy Danger via long cables.

Quill grinned and then fired off his rocket boots, launching up towards Gipsy.

* * *

Entering the cockpit through the back of Gipsy's head, Quill walked up to his Mjolnir armor, stored inside the cockpit, and equipped it before locking in to Gipsy's control mechanism.

The helicopters released the Jaeger, it touching down with a loud thud.

Smashing Gipsy's fists together, Quill shouted, "Here I come you damn bugs!"

The male MUTO turned to Gipsy as it charged and roared, running at the Jaeger.

Gipsy punched the charging MUTO in the head, stunning it momentarily, before grabbing the beast by the head and throwing it.

MUTO clipped several buildings but managed to catch himself before firing a sonic blast at Gipsy Danger.

Gipsy hopped to the side, dodging the blast, and then retaliated with blast from its plasma cannons.

After firing the shot, Quill blinked in surprise. "Damn, Jackie upgraded my plasma cannons to Repulsor Cannons."

The male raised its remaining wing to block the blast, but Gipsy fired several more shots at a skyscraper next to him, causing it to collapse towards the MUTO.

The MUTO dodged forward, narrowly avoiding the skyscraper, and then tackled Gipsy.

"Damn you…" Quill snarled as Gipsy raised its right arm, the joins from the elbow down locking in place. With a smirk, Quill asked, "Rocket fist?"

Cortana smirked in return and retorted, "Rocket fist."

A thruster on the back of Gipsy Danger's elbow then opened and fired off, causing the arm to surge forward and slam into the MUTO's head, causing him to stumble back, disoriented.

As Gipsy readied another attack, the MUTO began charging its sonic blast, hitting the Jaeger with a low power burst, knocking it to the ground.

With a loud howl the beast leapt forward.

"Shit! Cor, sword, now!" Quill shouted before Gipsy raised its arm, a long, segmented sword emerging from the forearm, catching the MUTO on the right shoulder as he charged, slicing the beast clean in half from shoulder to hip.

As the beast's body slid to a stop, Gipsy stood and shook the blood from the blade.

* * *

"I don't believe it…" Pentecost remarked in disbelief as he and Fury observed the battle on a monitor. "He actually did it."

With a smirk, Fury added, "Looks like the project won't be a complete failure."

* * *

"Damn… that was harder than I expected," Quill muttered with a groan.

"Don't take a break yet," Cortana interjected. "We've still got Mama to worry about."

"Yeah, yeah," Quill rebutted as Gipsy ran to the large dust cloud the female MUTO was hiding in.

Jemma turned to Gamora and asked, "Is he going to be –?"

She was interrupted as Gipsy Danger suddenly came flying out of the cloud and slammed into a building.

"Ow…" Quill groaned before the female walked out of the cloud, growling. "Oh, shut up!"

Gipsy then fired a blast that struck MUTO right in the face, however, she was completely unfazed.

"Oohh shit. That ain't good."

MUTO then immediately charged at Gipsy, the Jaeger jumping to the side just in time before swinging its sword at the beast's back, only for her pointed arm to swat the sword away before punching the Jaeger with her claw, sending it tumbling.

"Damn it all!"

MUTO then pinned Gipsy to the ground with her large claws before energy started pulsing from her neck to her eyes.

"Cor…! Do something!"

"This has as good of a chance of killing us as it does her," Cortana warned, "but I have an idea."

"Do it! Do it now!"

The gears in Gipsy's chest started spinning, faster and faster, the light in its chest shifting from a cold blue to a bright orange before a stream of pure energy shot out from the center of the Jaeger's chest.

MUTO howled in pain and shot the sonic blast off at nearby buildings as the energy shot at her, scorching her shoulder and causing her to stumble back.

"Hell yeah!" Quill shouted victoriously. "Now to kick her ass!"

"Yeah, about that…" Cortana remarked weakly. "Using that atomic blast used up a huge chunk of Gipsy's energy, so we're kind of immobile until it charges back up enough."

"… Crap…"

MUTO stood up straight and growled, enraged, before walking towards Gipsy, her sonic blast charging once more.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…!"

She reared back, ready to fire her blast when a beam of blue energy slammed into her side, causing the blast to once again fire off at random nearby buildings, and sending her flying away from Gipsy.

"… Hah…?"

Quill and the others turned and saw Godzilla walking in from the San Francisco bay, bellowing loudly as he approached MUTO.

The insectoid beast stood with a growl before howling loudly at Godzilla.

"About time," Quill muttered as MUTO charged at Godzilla.

Before she could reach him, however, Godzilla raised a leg and slammed his foot into her face, knocking her to the ground on her back, and then stomped down on the grounded beast's torso, causing her to shriek in pain.

"Quill!" Duke shouted over the radio. "You've gotta get moving, fast! The MUTO, its egg sac is empty!"

"I'm working on it!" Quill shouted back. "Cor! Status?!"

"We've charged to about thirty percent, that should be just enough to walk," Cortana answered.

"'Bout damn time."

Its generator spinning up slowly, Gipsy Danger slammed a fist down before getting to its feet and walking slowly towards the large dust cloud.

"While Big G deals with Mama, I'll warm the babies up. Cor, scan for them."

"Right," Cortana answered as light emitted from Gipsy's forehead.

* * *

MUTO slammed her feet into Godzilla's torso, causing him to stumble back slightly, before rolling back, to her feet. With a howl she charged and slammed into Godzilla, sliding him back several meters.

Godzilla growled and reared back before slamming his fists into her torso and pushing back, pushing her back powerfully.

MUTO growled and reached all four arms out to nearby skyscrapers to try and stop herself but Godzilla kept pushing, her arms shearing straight through the buildings.

He then raised a foot and slammed it into MUTO's abdomen, knocking her to her back once more, however she recovered quickly and fired a sound blast at Godzilla.

Godzilla growled as the blast pushed him back slightly but light flowed up his spines swiftly before he launched blue flames at MUTO's face.

The beast howled angrily before swinging one of her arms out, hitting Godzilla in the face, disorienting him, before curling her claw around the back of his neck and tugging, pulling the green Kaiju down. With him pinned to the ground, MUTO began repeatedly striking Godzilla's back with her pointed arms.

Godzilla snarled and swung his powerful tail up, slamming its full weight down on MUTO, causing her to fall, before putting his arms on the ground and pushing up, smacking the top of his head against her chin, disorienting her before hitting her with a powerful uppercut as he stood tall, knocking her to the side, slamming against a building.

MUTO growled in disorientation and leapt at Godzilla, pinning him to a building.

* * *

"Have you found them yet!?" Duke shouted over a radio as Gipsy stomped through a devastated area of the city.

"Uh," Quill mumbled as he searched around, "not yet. Wait, found them!" Looking down, Quill looked into a hole in the ground where hundreds of glowing orbs were stuck to the walls of the tunnel, wrapped around a pile of uranium. "Well hello there."

With a shake of its hands, both of Gipsy's forearms transformed into cannons.

"Say nighty-night, kiddos! Hope the big guy likes his eggs scrambled!"

Gipsy shook back with the recoil as both cannons fired powerful blasts of energy that hit the eggs, causing an immense explosion with a ball of fire.

* * *

MUTO stopped her attack on Godzilla and saw the fireball nearby. She howled angrily, punching Godzilla in the face before running to the source.

* * *

Quill smirked as he looked over his work. "How's that for –?"

Quill was interrupted as MUTO knocked Gipsy Danger out of her way and ran towards the destroyed eggs. Seeing the eggs destroyed she released a deep, bellowing howl. After a moment she turned to Gipsy and her eyes glowed brightly as she growled with rage.

"Uuhh… see ya!" Quill shouted as Gipsy quickly turned to stand.

However, as Quill tried to flee, MUTO reached out with one of her claws and wrapped it around Gipsy's leg, knocking the Jaeger to the ground before dragging it towards her.

"Shit!" Quill cursed as Gipsy readied its right arm blade and swung it at MUTO, only for the blade to bounce off her carapace. "Oh come on!"

MUTO prepared to fire a sonic blast at Gipsy, but Godzilla grabbed her by the waist and threw her off the Jaeger and into a collapsed building.

Quill sighed as Gipsy stood. "Thanks."

Godzilla roared loudly as Gipsy stood next to him.

"Okay," Ripcord noted, "you gotta admit, that's badass."

Gipsy slammed its fists together before Quill said, "Okay, let's do this." Gipsy charged forward as Godzilla spat blue flames at MUTO, disorienting her, Gipsy adding several shots from its right arm cannon directly at MUTO.

MUTO growled and swept her claw at Gipsy but the robot rolled under her attack just as Godzilla swung his tail, hitting MUTO with a powerful impact that knocked her to the side.

Gipsy, still down from its roll, fired several pointblank shots at MUTO's abdomen, the beast howling before gripping its shoulder tightly with her jaws.

"Shit!" Quill cursed. "Let go!"

Godzilla grabbed MUTO and pulled her away from Gipsy, unfortunately taking the Jaeger's right arm with her.

"Oh come on!"

Godzilla then pulled Gipsy's severed arm from MUTO's maw and began beating her with it.

"… That is awesome."

MUTO growled and then fired a sonic blast at Godzilla, knocking him back.

Godzilla growled angrily as his spines started to glow brightly.

"I like the way you think," Quill noted as Gipsy stood, its generator starting to spin faster and faster as it lit up.

The duo then fired two concentrated beams of energy at MUTO.

MUTO howled loudly, the beams shooting down her throat, causing her back to swell before exploding as the energy burst out from her back, blowing the beast to pieces.

"Woo!" Quill cheered, "that was awesome!" He then turned to his size and raised a hand. "High five big guy!" He then glanced to the side. "Oh, right, that arm's gone."

Godzilla growled lowly before turning and walking back towards the bay.

"Bye! See ya next Kaiju smack down! And be sure not to eat any strange whales!"

Godzilla merely roared lightly before sinking beneath the waves.

Gipsy turned and looked over the devastation to the city.

With a sigh, Quill muttered, "Well… time to call Fury."

* * *

"Well," Fury started as he sat in a conference room with Quill, Chuck, and a bandaged Hercules, "you saved the world. But you also trashed the city of San Francisco."

"Hey," Quill argued, "don't blame me. Blame those bugs. They didn't play nice and liked throwing us around into things."

Fury huffed lightly. "Right. Well, S.H.I.E.L.D. will handle the cleanup and the repairs to Gipsy. You, one the other hand, need to rest up."

Quill raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, why?"

"You're off to New York."

"… Why?"

"Because someone a lot smarter than I am has taken an interest in you."

"… Wwwhhhyyy…?"

"He wouldn't say. But he's an old friend and a good man."

Quill shrugged in response. "Good enough for me, I guess."

"Sadly, Omega's still getting repairs, so you'll need to take a standard S.H.I.E.L.D. flight. It'll drop you off in New York City."

"Ah, nice… Last time I was there most of the city blew up. Hope it doesn't this time."

"Wait, we're going back to New York?" Rocket asked.

"No," Fury interjected, "Quill is."

"What?" Gamora asked, irritated.

"Quill is going to New York on his own."

"Why?" Drax asked, confused.

"Simple, he only requested Quill. Besides that, you will be needed on other ops while he is away."

Gamora narrowed her eyes angrily and then grabbed Quill by the collar. "Practice any of your sorcery while you are away and I will be certain you pay."

"Ah, I suppose now is a good time to mention what my friend does. That is, he runs an institute for Mutants."

Quill raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's a Mutant?"

"A human who, typically during puberty, develops supernatural abilities or characteristics."

Quill coughed weakly, trying to not look at Gamora who, as he predicted, was glaring a hole through him. "I'm in trouble…"

* * *

Quill stepped off of his plane and into New York City proper, taking a look around as he walked. "Well, the Big Apple seems to be recovering nicely, at least."

* * *

As he made his way around the city, trying to find the location of the school Fury had told him about, the Xavier Institute, he stopped when he noticed a large group of people gathering outside of a university. "Huh?" he muttered in thought before someone bumped into him. Quill turned and saw a young man with short brown hair and large glasses on the ground, busily trying to pick up his spilled books. "Whoa, you okay kid?" Quill asked as he helped the teen clean up.

"Y – Yeah, I'm fine," the teen answered sheepishly as he stood. "Sorry about that."

Quill waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, no it's fine. You should be more…" Quill trailed off as he noticed the teen not paying attention, his gaze pointed elsewhere. Following the teen's stare, he saw a girl roughly the young man's age with long red hair. With a smirk, Quill asked, "Girlfriend, I assume?"

The teen huffed in frustration. "I wish. That's Mary-Jane, the most beautiful girl in school." Extending a hand out lightly, he pointed to a heavyset teen walking with the redhead. "And the walking tank there is her boyfriend."

"Yikes…" With a pat on the back, Quill added, "Well good luck then kid. You'll probably need it."

"Yeah… Oh, uh, who are you?"

Quill stopped and then turned to the teen with a smirk. "Name's Star-Lord. You?"

"Uh, Peter. Peter Parker."

With a wave, Quill walked away.

* * *

Quill huffed in exhaustion as he walked up to a large, gothic, castle-like structure located deep in a forest. "Holy crap… this place really is in the sticks… Though, I guess it makes sense."

"So you've arrived," a new voice said to Quill.

He instantly turned around and saw a woman with dark skin and bright white hair walking towards him from the building.

"Xavier has been waiting."

Quill gulped slightly. "… Yup, I'm in trouble. And you are…?"

"My name is Ororo Munroe. Xavier sent me to get you. Let me show you to his office."

"Uh, right." As Ororo turned to walk away, Quill glanced down and gulped. "Ssoo much trouble."

* * *

Soon, Ororo led Quill through the halls of the building, long and labyrinthine, to Xavier's office. A large, wide open room with high walls and many bookcases.

"So…" Quill muttered in thought as he looked around before an older, bald-headed man in a wheelchair entered the room.

"Ah, Peter," the man said good-naturedly, "it is good to meet you."

Quill turned to the man curiously. "Xavier I assume?"

Nodding, Xavier answered, "Exactly. I assume Nicholas told you about me?"

"Just that you're trustworthy and your academy is filled with people with awesome powers."

"That first distinction will be for you to decide. But I will heartily agree to the second." Glancing at Ororo then back to Quill, Xavier added, "I see you have already met one of the previous graduates."

"Oh yeah," Quill answered with an impressed smirk.

Xavier gave a slightly wry smile and chided, "If you don't mind, such thoughts are preferred left at the door."

"Ah, sorry. But… when you see a woman like that… Wait, wait, wait, how did you…?"

"I am a Telepath. As are numerous members of the faculty and student body."

"Ah, cool, what am I thinking now?"

Xavier frowned in mild annoyance.

"Ah… sorry. Couldn't resist."

Xavier sighed and then asked, "Shall we… get to the point of this meeting?"

"Yeah…" Quill muttered uncomfortably, "let's do that."

"Good. I called you here for several reasons, 'Star-Lord'," Xavier explained, adding a sarcastic punch to Quill's preferred title.

"Hheeyy…" Quill groaned lightly. "Don't say it like that…"

Ororo smirked in amusement.

Quill sighed heavily. ' _Oh great, no even the hotty's laughing at me. Can this day get any worse? Wait, now that I thought that, it will…_ '

* * *

Quill sighed as Ororo and Xavier led him through the academy.

"This is a really big school," Quill noted. "Kinda like a castle or mansion."

"That is what it originally was," Xavier explained, "until Erik and I purchased it."

Quill furrowed his brow in thought. "Who's Erik?"

Xavier sighed in consternation. "He is… an old friend. At least, he was."

"Huh?"

"It is nothing," Xavier answered with a shake of his head.

"Ah… So…?"

"Yes, I have a few questions for you, actually."

With a shrug, Quill insisted, "Alright, shoot."

"Well first, I –" Xavier began, only to be interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.

"Huh…?"

Ororo spoke on the phone momentarily. "I understand, thank you." She then turned to Xavier.

"Is something the matter, Ororo?" Xavier asked.

"It seems that it's time for the meeting at the Senate."

Quill sighed in annoyance. "Oh great, Senates.

Xavier turned to him curiously. "I presume you have experience?"

"Yeah, there's a galaxy full of them."

Ororo frowned in confusion before the doors nearby opened and two people walked in.

The first was a man with short brown hair, a black outfit, and sunglasses covering his eyes.

The second was a woman with long, wavy red hair and green eyes wearing a formal red suit.

Quill gulped slightly as he looked at the woman.

The red-haired woman stopped momentarily and turned to Xavier and Ororo. "So, do you think I look prepared for a speech in front of the Senate?"

"Oh big time…" Quill noted as he looked at the woman.

She glanced at Quill in thought and then turned back to Xavier. "Who's he?"

"Peter Quill. People call me Star-Lord though."

"Ah." Extending a hand to him, she greeted, "Nice to meet you, Quill. I'm Jean Gray."

"Same here."

Motioning to the man next to her, Jean added, "And the frowning man to my left is Scott. Most call him Cyclops though."

"One eye behind the shades?"

Ororo interjected, "He uses a visor to concentrate his powers."

"Ah. What's he do? Shoot laser beams from his eyes?"

"Yes," all four answered in unison.

"Seriously…? That is awesome."

"Right," Cyclops retorted with mild annoyance before turning to Xavier questioningly. "So what's Starboard doing here?"

"Star. Lord," Quill noted with emphasis, quite annoyed.

"He is a temporary loan from Nicholas," Xavier explained.

"Really?" Jean asked with mild surprise.

"Yes."

"Huh…"

"So, shall we go?"

Quill shrugged. "Sooner the better, as they say."

"You might not be saying that once we get there," Jean retorted.

"It's a Senate. I'm already asking myself why I agreed to go along."

* * *

Quill groaned in boredom as he, Xavier, Ororo, and Cyclops sat in a balcony overlooking a large circle of seats, filled with hundreds of people.

"So, what's this meeting about again?" Quill asked out of sheer disinterest. "Because it looks like a bunch of old peacocks trying to strut their feathers."

"Tensions between normal humans and Mutants have been high since our existence became public a few decades ago," Ororo began to explain as the people below spoke amongst themselves in hushed tones. "One of the Senators here is trying to propose a bill that would force all Mutants to register their name, abilities, and location on a government database."

Quill frowned with chagrin. "… I see Senators still like smoking meth when they want to violate one of a person's rights."

"That wouldn't be so bad if the normal humans didn't see us as monsters to be stomped out. It's widely known and documented that Mutants who make their powers known don't last long," Cyclops added in.

"Well, duh. Humanity as a group devolve into dumb mindless destructive beasts when faced with things they don't understand or can't do."

"Be that as it may," Xavier interjected with a sigh, "I still believe that peaceful coexistence is possible."

"Maybe after a Chitauri invasion but I don't see that happening."

"Chitauri?" Ororo asked, confused and intrigued.

"Very vicious and militaristic. They don't take prisoners and have a lot of firepower."

"Sounds… lovely…" Cyclops noted with derision.

"Yeah…"

"Oh, look," Ororo interjected, "Jean's up.

Quill turned quickly as Jean walked up to the podium surrounded by the Senators' seats.

Jean cleared her throat as she prepared to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are now seeing the beginnings of another stage of human evolution. These mutations manifest at puberty, and are often triggered by periods of heightened emotional stress."

"Huh," Quill hummed in thought. "So that's how it works."

A man with short grey hair and glasses, sat behind a desk with the nameplate "Robert Kelly" on the front of it, then interrupted with a sarcastic tone, "Thank you Miss Gray, that was quite educational. However, it fails to address what is the focus of this hearing. Three words. Are. Mutants. Dangerous."

"Seriously? Nothing is completely safe."

"I'm afraid that's an unfair question," Jean rebuffed. "After all, the wrong person behind the wheel of a car can be dangerous."

"Too true," Quill noted with a nod.

"Well," Kelly added, "we _do_ license people to drive."

"Yes," Jean began, "but not to live. Senator, it is a fact that Mutants who have come forward and revealed themselves publicly have been met with fear, hostility, and even violence. It is because of this ever-present hostility that I am urging this Senate to vote against Mutant registration. To force Mutants to expose themselves would only further –"

"Expose themselves?" Kelly interrupted abruptly. "What is it the Mutant community has to hide I wonder that makes them so afraid to identify themselves."

"Being murdered," Quill added in. "Hunted. Treated like a pariah. There's a lllooottt of negatives."

"I'd appreciate if the peanut gallery kept silent until this hearing was finished."

"Oh really? Then why are you still talking?"

"I didn't say they were hiding," Jean argued.

"Then let me show you what is being hidden," Kelly challenged, "Miss Gray." Kelly held up a stack of documents and continued, "I have here a list of names of identified Mutants. Right here, in the United States. Such as a girl in Illinois who can walk through walls. Now what's to stop her from walking into a bank vault, or into the Whitehouse?" Motioning to the other Senators around him, he added, "Or into _their_ houses? And there are even rumors, Miss Gray, of Mutants so powerful they can enter our minds and control our thoughts."

Quill narrowed his eyes suspiciously. ' _I'll be asking Fury how this asshole knows this._ '

"I think the American people deserve the right to decide if they want their children in school with Mutants. To be _taught_ by Mutants. Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is that Mutants are very real. And they are among us. We must know who they are, and above all, we must know what they can do!"

At that moment the other Senators and those in the surrounding crowd began clapping and cheering loudly.

Quill then stood up. "Quick question. Are you _all_ this gungho about violating personal rights?"

"Quill…" Cyclops muttered with mild anger. "Sit. Down."

"I mean, seriously! You're all violating every fricking right of privacy and freedom a person has if you enact this! If the person in question was a wanted criminal, sure, _that_ person should be registered and all. Or if they serve in the government. But you all think that 'Mutants' don't have reasons to expose themselves? You obviously forgot about things like racism and how far people take that shit!"

Jean attempted to hide the small smirk on her face.

"And who are you?" Kelly challenged. "A professor of law? A seasoned lawyer?"

A wide smirk then spread on Quill's face.

"Don't do it…" Cyclops warned.

"I'm Star-Lord."

Cyclops groaned heavily.

"Idiot…"

Xavier merely chuckled lightly with amusement.

"So tell me something, Senators," Quill challenged. "Would you like to have your entire lives monitored all day every day? Because that kinda sounds like Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany."

"We're not inhuman monsters like them," Kelly argued.

"Hhmm… if I remember correctly, a certain someone said that about another certain group of people. He gave them all gold stars so everyone knew who they were."

Xavier smiled lightly before noticing a man with short grey hair in a long suit leaving the room, prompting the wheelchair bound man to frown slightly before following after him.

"Uh, hey, Doc!" Quill called before following after Xavier.

* * *

"Erik," Xavier called out as he moved down the long, glass-lined hallway, the trench coat adorned man stopping as he approached. "What are you doing here?"

"Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers?" the man asked as he turned to face Xavier.

"Yo, Professor," Quill noted as he walked up to the duo.

"And Star-Lord arrives."

"Finally!" Quill exclaimed happily. "Someone used it right. So who are you?"

"You may call me Magneto."

"Cool name."

Magneto then turned to Xavier curiously. "So who is this, your protege?"

"No," Xavier retorted, "he is not."

"Ah. So, what would you have me do, Charles? About them? I've heard these arguments before."

Xavier sighed in frustration. "It was a long time ago. Mankind has evolved since then."

"Yes. Into us."

"Not entirely," Quill interjected. "Right now Mutants are unfortunately the minority."

"That is true. And I intend to fix that." After a moment, Magneto sighed and put two fingers against his temple. "Poking around in here… What is it you're looking for, Charles?"

With a sigh, Xavier answered, "Hope."

"And I will bring you hope. All I ask in return is that you don't get in my way."

Quill then added in, "You almost sound like you want to wipe humans out."

"We are the future, not them."

"You seem to forget something, though. They are humans, just like you. If you do that, you're lowering yourself to their level."

"While I appreciate the truth to your sentiment, Star-Lord, you too forget one other matter. I am willing to do whatever I must for the advancement of our species. Even if it means I must become the devil."

"If you become the devil then I'll become the angel that stops you."

"Then it will be quite the show, won't it?" With a tip of his hat, the man then walked away from the duo.

"Cool guy. Bad path he's following but a cool guy."

Xavier nodded lightly. "To that, I can agree."

"Well aren't you a showman," Fury remarked as he approached the duo.

"I was just being honest," Quill rebutted. "Besides, Senator Delly does seem like Hitler 2.0 to me."

Fury hummed in thought. "Well, he just might be. But for the moment, you and the super friends need to get going."

"Oh? And why exactly is that?"

"Some country bumpkin just put her boyfriend in a coma and has currently fled to Alberta, Canada. She's a young thing," Fury paused as he handed a photo of the girl, Marie D'Ancanto, to Quill, "so you guys should go up there and pick her up before anything bad happens."

"Oh we are so there. One question first."

"It's called the Index. It lists every single Gifted we know of and all their powers. How Kelly learned about I don't know but he's just trying to get it so that the U.S. government has access to it."

"If Delly does that, it will be war. You know that."

"I do. Which is why it won't happen. I've been through this rodeo before. Most world governments don't like that S.H.I.E.L.D. is so independent and yet has access to U.S. resources. Most congressmen don't like it either."

"Probably because we keep those assholes from burning their hands on a hot stove."

Fury smirked and replied, "Someone's gotta keep the children in line. Now get moving, Omega's been repaired and is waiting to take you up north."

Quill grinned happily. "Great! Knew that bug couldn't keep the big guy down! Later Nick!"

* * *

 **And finito! That ends chapter eight of Guardians of Earth. I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, be sure to post a review if you did. If you were confused or unsure about anything, or have any questions about the story do not be afraid to post a review and I will do what I can to address your concerns. If you did not enjoy it, post a review if you must, but I would suggest doing something you actually enjoy instead. So until the next chapter, bye-bye!**


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